Severe COVID-19 illness can result in excessive inflammation throughout the body, including the lungs, heart and brain.
In a new review study, researchers studied the human body’s robust inflammatory response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is now recognized as a hallmark symptom.
They found that controlling the body’s inflammatory response to SARS-CoV-2 will likely be as important as antiviral therapies or a potential vaccine.
Individual mediators—called cytokines—cause inflammation in response to tissue injury or infection. Mediators are a substance or structure that mediates a specific response in a bodily tissue.
Rather than blocking cytokines, medical staff could turn off virus-induced inflammation by broadly activating the body’s natural inflammation-clearing activities.
The research was conducted by a team at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities
The study found that one hallmark of SARS-CoV-2 infection is a cytokine storm, which is a drastic increase in immune cell production of cytokines.
In addition, SARS-CoV-2 causes unchecked inflammation that can cause extensive organ damage, such as lung failure.
Current therapeutic strategies in COVID-19 focus on inhibiting a single pro-inflammatory cytokine rather than broadly inhibiting the body’s inflammatory response.
lipid mediators derived from omega-3 fatty acids serve as the body’s natural “stop” signals to inflammation.
Increasing levels of these lipid mediators in the body could be a new therapeutic approach to preventing life-threatening inflammation caused by SARS-CoV-2.
The team says that finding new ways to dampen the body’s inflammatory response to COVID-19 will likely be as important as finding effective antiviral therapies to control COVID-19 infection and reduce life-threatening organ damage.
Moreover, these compounds have been found to be non-toxic and non-immunosuppressive in ongoing clinical trials for other inflammatory diseases, making them even more promising candidates for rapid clinical translation.
What is exciting is that these lipid mediators that ‘turn off,’ or resolve, inflammation are already in clinical trials for other inflammation-driven diseases, such as eye disease, periodontal disease and pain
The mediators can quickly be applied to turn off inflammation in COVID-19 patients.
The lead author of the study is Molly Gilligan, a student at the Medical School.
The study is published in the journal Cancer & Metastasis Reviews.
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