Mechanism, prevention and treatment of acute lung injury caused by 2019-nCoV infection / 国际儿科学杂志

ABSTRACT

The main target organ of 2019 novel coronavirus(2019-nCoV)was the lung and acute respiratory distress syndrome, a life-threatening condition, could happen in severe cases.The main receptor of 2019-nCoV is angiotensin-converting enzyme 2(ACE2). Other receptors reported included CD147, tyrosine protein kinase receptor UFO, Neuropilin-1, Kidney injury molecule-1, et al.When 2019-nCoV is bound with ACE2, the expression of ACE2 would be down-regulated, which causes an increased angiotensin level and consequent lung injury through downstream signals.In addition, 2019-nCoV infection can induce inflammatory cytokine storm, cause coagulation dysfunction, trigger lung epithelial cell apoptosis, et al, which collaboratively contribute to lung injury.The clinical symptoms of 2019-nCoV infection in children are mild, which is thought due to the advantages of children in innate immune response and the low level of adaptive immune response.The fundamental means to prevent and treat lung injury was inhibiting the proliferation and replication of the 2019-nCoV virus, but so far, there are no specific antiviral drugs found yet.Approaches like recombinant human soluble ACE2 protein, neutralizing antibody against protein S, inhibiting angiotensinⅡ, contradicting inflammation factors, or stem cell infusion may be helpful to prevent and alleviate lung injury.