mBio
. 2020 Jul 2;11(4):e01175-20.
doi: 10.1128/mBio.01175-20.
Pathogenesis of COVID-19 From the Perspective of the Damage-Response Framework
Liise-Anne Pirofski # 1 , Arturo Casadevall # 2
AffiliationsExpand
- PMID: 32616514
- DOI: 10.1128/mBio.01175-20
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) presents the medical community with a significant challenge. COVID-19 is an entirely new disease with disparate clinical manifestations that are difficult to reconcile with a single pathogenic principle. Here, we explain how the flexible paradigm of the "damage-response framework" (DRF) of microbial pathogenesis can organize the varied manifestations of COVID-19 into a synthesis that accounts for differences in susceptibility of vulnerable populations as well as for differing manifestations of COVID-19 disease. By focusing on mechanisms of host damage, particularly immune-mediated damage, the DRF provides a lens to understand COVID-19 pathogenesis and to consider how potential therapies could alter the outcome of this disease.
Keywords: COVID; viral pathogenesis; virus.