Rationale for the use of sphingosine analogues in COVID-19 patients.

ABSTRACT: Despite the recent announcement of promising drug candidates to treat COVID-19, there is currently no effective antiviral drug or vaccine. There is strong evidence that acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS), likely triggered by a cytokine storm, is responsible for the severity of disease seen in COVID-19 patients. In support of this hypothesis, pilot studies using IL-6 receptor inhibitors such as tocilizumab have shown promising results. Therefore, the use of drugs or cocktails of drugs with broader ability to inhibit these cytokine receptors is likely to be effective. In this article, we propose the use of sphingosine analogues, which have been shown to mitigate acute lung damage in animal models of ALI/ARDS, as early adjuvant therapies to prevent and/or mitigat

SUBMITTER: Tasat DR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7850220 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature