ABSTRACT
Dry eye disease (DED) is a multifactorial disorder that leads to ocular discomfort, visual disturbance, and tear film instability. DED is accompanied by an increase in tear osmolarity and ocular surface inflammation. The diagnosis and treatment of DED still present significant challenges. Therefore, novel biomarkers and treatments are of great interest. Proteases are present in different tissues on the ocular surface. In a healthy eye, proteases are highly regulated. However, dysregulation occurs in various pathologies, including DED. With this review, we provide an overview of the implications of different families of proteases in the development and severity of DED, along with studies involving protease inhibitors as potential therapeutic tools. Even though further research is needed, this review aims to give suggestions for identifying novel biomarkers and developing new protease inhibitors.
Subject(s)
Dry Eye Syndromes , Peptide Hydrolases , Biomarkers , Dry Eye Syndromes/diagnosis , Endopeptidases , Humans , Inflammation/drug therapy , Peptide Hydrolases/therapeutic use , Protease Inhibitors/therapeutic use , TearsABSTRACT
The pandemic of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 at the end of 2019 marked the third outbreak of a highly pathogenic coronavirus affecting the human population in the past twenty years. Cross-species zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has caused severe pathogenicity and led to more than 655,000 fatalities worldwide until July 28, 2020. Outbursts of this virus underlined the importance of controlling infectious pathogens across international frontiers. Unfortunately, there is currently no clinically approved antiviral drug or vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, although several broad-spectrum antiviral drugs targeting multiple RNA viruses have shown a positive response and improved recovery in patients. In this review, we compile our current knowledge of the emergence, transmission, and pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 and explore several features of SARS-CoV-2. We emphasize the current therapeutic approaches used to treat infected patients. We also highlight the results of in vitro and in vivo data from several studies, which have broadened our knowledge of potential drug candidates for the successful treatment of patients infected with and discuss possible virus and host-based treatment options against SARS-CoV-2.