Work

Thalidomide combined with low‐dose short‐term glucocorticoid in the treatment of critical Coronavirus Disease 2019

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: An epidemic illness caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), now named Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), occurred in Wuhan, China. 1 The human-to-human contagious transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has been confirmed, leading to rapid spreading to tens of thousands of patients in China and other regions in the world.[2][3][4][5] Organ dysfunction, including acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), shock, and death may occur.6 Therefore, many COVID-19 patients also suffered from anxiety, especially under treatment in intensive care units.However, due to currently very limited treatment options and no developed vaccines available for COVID-19, new treatment approaches are urgently needed.There were quite a few critical cases suffering from immune imbalance, 7 for which the efficacy of antiviral drugs might remain unsatisfactory or insufficient, especially in the later stages of disease progression.Thalidomide, referred to phocomelia, has been introduced as an anti-inflammatory therapy with remarkable efficacy in many autoimmune disorders, such as Abbreviations: ARDS, acute respiratory distress syndrome; IFN, interferon; IL, interleukin; MERS, Middle East respiratory syndrome; rRT-PCR, real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

Source: Clinical and Translational Medicine

DOI: 10.1002/ctm2.35