Trends Immunol . Combining Antivirals and Immunomodulators to Fight COVID-19

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Trends Immunol


. 2020 Nov 13;S1471-4906(20)30261-1.
doi: 10.1016/j.it.2020.11.003. Online ahead of print.
Combining Antivirals and Immunomodulators to Fight COVID-19


Vincent Feuillet ¹ , Bruno Canard ² , Alain Trautmann ³



Affiliations

• PMID: 33281063
• DOI: 10.1016/j.it.2020.11.003

Abstract

The majority of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected individuals remain paucisymptomatic, contrasting with a minority of infected individuals in danger of death. Here, we speculate that the robust disease resistance of most individuals is due to a swift production of type I interferon (IFNα/β), presumably sufficient to lower the viremia. A minority of infected individuals with a preexisting chronic inflammatory state fail to mount this early efficient response, leading to a delayed harmful inflammatory response. To improve the epidemiological scenario, we propose combining: (i) the development of efficient antivirals administered early enough to assist in the production of endogenous IFNα/β; (ii) potentiating early IFN responses; (iii) administering anti-inflammatory treatments when needed, but not too early to interfere with endogenous antiviral responses.

Keywords: COVID-19; IFNα/β; SARS-CoV-2; antiviral molecules; cytokine storm; immunomodulators.