The study also explains why men are more likely to develop severe COVID.
Inflammation is the body’s defense mechanism against infections. When it is broad and extensive, however, it can exacerbate the pathology and possibly result in mortality. One of the ways this overactive response happens is known as a cytokine storm, which is an inflammatory process caused by these proteins, cytokines, which send a signal to the immune system.
“This response is often the cause of death in those affected by SARS-CoV-2 rather than the virus itself,” says Óscar Fernández-Capetillo, one of the authors of the study.
Although respiratory failure owing to Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is the major cause of mortality from COVID-19, the research states that an accumulation of research shows that lethality in a subgroup of severe patients is attributable to the late development of an inflammatory cytokine storm.
“The study predicts that glucocorticoids such as dexamethasone should be effective in combating mortality in patients with COVID-19, which was comforting because, in fact, these drugs, along with others, are already being used in hospitals to combat death from COVID-19,” adds the author.
The researchers were surprised to discover – and then confirm in vitro – that MEK protein inhibitors, which are routinely employed in cancer treatments, had a robust anti-inflammatory effect.
“I think this anti-inflammatory property of MEK inhibitors is fairly unknown, and there needs to be more knowledge about it because it increases our arsenal of anti-inflammatory compounds that could contribute to mitigating cytokine storms that can occur in several contexts, such as after transplants, chemotherapy, and other infectious diseases including COVID-19,” he says.
In any case, any anti-inflammatory drug-based therapy, including glucocorticoids, should be limited to the late and severe stages of COVID-19, according to the researchers, because using anti-inflammatory therapies in the early stages of the disease would limit the immune system’s ability to fight infection.
Another significant finding was that all of the studies undertaken as part of the study agreed that female hormones could aid in fighting the cytokine storm, which could explain why men tend to have more severe types of COVID.
“Also, it would be consistent with the fact that the difference in mortality by sex is mitigated in advanced ages, when menopause appears and oestrogen levels decrease,” says Fernández-Capetillo.
Source: Scientific Reports
Image Credit: Getty
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