遺伝子工学の進歩
オープンアクセス

概要

Bench to Bed - Molecular for COVID-19 Investigation

Syed Faizan Raza

First isolated in China in early 2020, Severe Acute RespiratorySyndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the novel coronavirusresponsible for the ongoing pandemic of CoronavirusDisease 2019 (COVID-19). The disease has been spreading rapidlyacross the globe, with the largest burden falling on China,Europe, and the United States. COVID-19 is a new clinicalsyndrome, characterized by respiratory symptoms with varyingdegrees of severity, from mild upper respiratory illness to severeinterstitial pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome,aggravated by thrombosis in the pulmonary microcirculation.Three main phases of disease progression have been proposedfor COVID-19: an early infection phase, a pulmonary phase,and a hyperinflammation phase. Although current understandingof COVID-19 treatment is mainly derived from smalluncontrolled trials that are affected by a number of biases,strong background noise, and a litany of confounding factors,emerging awareness suggests that drugs currently used to treatCOVID-19 (antiviral drugs, antimalarial drugs, immunomodulators,anticoagulants, and antibodies) should be evaluated inrelation to the pathophysiology of disease progression. Drawingupon the dramatic experiences taking place in Italy andaround the world, here we review the changes in the evolutionof the disease and focus on current treatment uncertaintiesand promising new therapies.