ABSTRACT
Global vaccination effort and better understanding of treatment strategies provided a ray of hope for improvement in COVID-19 pandemic, however, in many countries, the disease continues to collect its death toll. The major pathogenic mechanism behind severe cases associated with high mortality is the burst of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF, IL-6, IFNγ and others, resulting in multiple organ failure. Although the exact contribution of each cytokine is not clear, we provide an evidence that the central mediator of cytokine storm and its devastating consequences may be TNF. This cytokine is known to be involved in activated blood clotting, lung damage, insulin resistance, heart failure, and other conditions. A number of currently available pharmaceutical agents such as monoclonal antibodies and soluble TNF receptors can effectively prevent TNF from binding to its receptor(s). Other drugs are known to block NFkB, the major signal transducer molecule used in TNF signaling, or to block kinases involved in downstream activation cascades. Some of these medicines have already been selected for clinical trials, but more work is needed. A simple, rapid, and inexpensive method of directly monitoring TNF levels may be a valuable tool for a timely selection of COVID-19 patients for anti-TNF therapy.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 Drug Treatment , Cytokine Release Syndrome/drug therapy , Pandemics , SARS-CoV-2 , Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitors/therapeutic use , Biomarkers , COVID-19/complications , COVID-19/metabolism , Cytokine Release Syndrome/etiology , Cytokine Release Syndrome/prevention & control , Drug Repositioning , Humans , Interleukin-6/metabolism , Multiple Organ Failure/etiology , Multiple Organ Failure/prevention & control , NF-kappa B/antagonists & inhibitors , NF-kappa B/metabolism , Patient Selection , Protein Kinase Inhibitors/pharmacology , Protein Kinase Inhibitors/therapeutic use , Signal Transduction/drug effects , Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitors/pharmacology , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/antagonists & inhibitors , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/physiologyABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused significant devastation globally. Despite the development of several vaccines, with uncertainty around global uptake and vaccine efficacy, the need for effective therapeutic agents remains. Increased levels of cytokines including tumour necrosis factor are significant in the pathogenesis of COVID-19 and associated with poor outcomes including ventilator requirement and mortality. Repurposing tumour necrosis factor blocker therapy used in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease seems promising, with early feasibility data showing a reduction in circulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and encouraging the evaluation of such interventions in preventing disease progression and clinical deterioration in patients with COVID-19. Here, we examine the biological activities of tumour necrosis factor inhibitors indicative of their potential in COVID-19 and briefly outline the randomised control trials assessing their benefit-risk profile in COVID-19 therapy.