Patients with severe cases of COVID-19 usually experience a life-threatening immune response, such as the cytokine storm, which could lead to respiratory failure, damage to the organs, and sometimes death.
There are no FDA approved treatments yet for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and scientists worldwide are racing to find ways to stop the virus or its inflammatory overreaction.
A group of researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Brigham and Women's Hospital proposed that in preventing the possible organ damage among severe cases, controlling the local systemic inflammatory response in COVID-19 may be as vital as anti-viral and other therapies. They published their paper in Cancer and Metastasis Reviews.
Novel technique to prevent organ damage in Coronavirus Patients
The researchers in the study were composed of Dr. Dipak Panigrahy of the Cancer Center at BIDMC and Dr. Charles N. Serhan, director of the Center of Experimental Therapeutics and also a member of Brigham and Women's Hospital's Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine.
They proposed that a family of molecules naturally produced by the body may be harnessed to resolve the inflammation that patients with severe COVID-19 experience. This process will reduce acute respiratory problems and other life-threatening complications associated with COVID-19.
Panigrahy said that controlling the inflammatory response of the body is the key to the management of COVID-19, and it may be as significant to managing the pandemic similar to anti-viral therapies or a vaccine.
"Our team proposes using molecules made by the body called pro-resolution lipid mediators - which are currently in clinical trials for other inflammatory diseases - as a novel approach to turning off the inflammation and preventing the cytokine storm caused by COVID-19," Panigrahy added.
The body releases cytokines as part of its natural immune response to injured or infected tissue. Usually, the body would also release chemicals to stop or resolve the inflammatory response.
However, in numerous COVID-19 patients with severe cases, cytokines unleashed to kill the virus also damage the infected lung cells. Then, the injury to the lung tissues triggers additional inflammation, which causes the so-called "cytokine storm" and spirals out of control.
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Resolvins may help manage COVID-19
In 2002, Serhan and colleagues at BWH discovered resolvins, naturally occurring molecules that actively turn off inflammation. Resolvins and related pro-resolution molecules were previously proven to play a role in preventing cancer metastasis and progression, as demonstrated by Panigrahy, Serhan, and colleagues.
Currently, this class of molecules is also tested in clinical trials to see if they can be used against other inflammatory diseases like the ocular, periodontal, and inflammatory bowel disease. The scientists suggest that these molecules could be re-deployed to help manage COVID-19.
"Activating the body's own resolution pathways with the use of resolvins and related pro-resolution molecules -which, importantly, promote blog clot removal- may complement current treatment strategies while limiting severe organ damage and improving outcomes in COVID-19 patients," said Serhan.
It's a paradigm shift emerging on their understanding to solve the inflammation caused by COVID-19.
