Therapeutics for the Management of Cytokine Release Syndrome in COVID-19.

Shampa Ghosh, Shantanu Durgvanshi, Sung Soo Han, Rakesh Bhaskar, Jitendra Kumar Sinha

Journal: Current topics in medicinal chemistry 2023;23(2):128-142

PMID: 35796445

Abstract

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is the greatest pandemic of this era and has affected more than 10 million people across 213 nations. However, the etiology, management, and treatment of COVID-19 remain unknown. A better understanding of the novel virus would help in developing accurate diagnostic methods and efficacious drugs for the treatment of patients of all age groups. To control the pandemic urgently, many drugs are being repurposed and several clinical trials are in progress for the same. As cytokine storm has been observed to be one of the common mechanisms of immune response in COVID-19 patients, several drugs are under trials to control the cytokine storm. In this review, we discuss the different categories of drugs in clinical trials for the management of cytokine storms in COVID-19 patients. Hitherto, several promising candidates such as IL-1 and IL-6 inhibitors have failed to display efficacy in the trials. Only corticosteroid therapy has shown benefit so far, albeit limited to patients on ventilator support. Thus, it is crucial to seek novel strategies to combat hyperinflammation and increase survival in COVID-19 afflicted patients.

Address: Indian Council of Medical Research, National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Tarnaka, Hyderabad, 500007, India.; Amity Institute of Neuropsychology and Neurosciences (AINN), Amity University UP, Sector -125, Noida, 201303, India.; School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsang 38541, South Korea.; 3School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsang 38541, South Korea.

DOI: 10.2174/1568026622666220707114121