Covid-19 in a patient with multiple sclerosis treated with natalizumab: May the blockade of integrins have a protective role?

The disease caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is currently spread worldwide . Recent data supports SARS-CoV-2 may use integrins to enter human cells. Therefore, anti-integrins therapies might be an alternative against the infection . Natalizumab, approved for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) treatment, acts blocking α4-integrin. We report a MS patient treated with natalizumab who develops COVID-19, with excellent recovery and repeated negative results in 5 consecutive microbiological studies. We postulate this may be due to the blockade of integrins induced by natalizumab.