Immunomodulation and immunotherapeutics of COVID-19

Garg, Sourbh Suren; Sharma, Atulika; Gupta, Jeena

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 causes coronavirus disease 2019, a pandemic which was originated from Wuhan city of China. The pandemic has affected millions of people worldwide. The pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 is characterized by a cytokine storm in the blood (cytokinemia) and tissues, especially the lungs. One of the major repercussions of this inflammatory process is the endothelial injury-causing intestinal bleeding, coagulopathy, and thromboembolism which result in various sudden and unexpected post-COVID complications including kidney failure, myocardial infarction, or multiorgan failure. In this review, we have summarized the immune responses, biochemical changes, and inflammatory responses in the human body after infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The increased amount of inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and involvement of complement proteins in inflammatory reaction increase the risk of occurrence of disease.