Metformin and SARS-CoV-2: mechanistic lessons on air pollution to weather the cytokine/thrombotic storm in COVID-19.

ABSTRACT: Pathological signaling in the lung induced by particulate matter (PM) air pollution partially overlaps with that provoked by COVID-19, the pandemic disease caused by infection with the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Metformin is capable of suppressing one of the molecular triggers of the proinflammatory and prothrombotic processes of urban PM air pollution, namely the mitochondrial ROS/Ca²⁺ release-activated Ca²⁺ channels (CRAC)/IL-6 cascade. Given the linkage between mitochondrial functionality, ion channels, and inflamm-aging, the ability of metformin to target mitochondrial electron transport and prevent ROS/CRAC-mediated IL-6 release might illuminate new therapeutic avenues to quell the raging of the cytokine and thrombotic-like storms that are the leading causes o

SUBMITTER: Menendez JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7288975 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature