The Artificial-Liver Blood-Purification System Can Effectively Improve Hypercytokinemia for COVID-19

Jing Guo1, He Xia1, Shuting Wang1

  • 1State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

Frontiers in Immunology
|January 11, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Artificial-liver blood-purification system (ALS) shows promise in treating COVID-19 by mitigating cytokine storms. This innovative approach rapidly removes inflammatory mediators, potentially improving outcomes for severe cases.

Area of Science:

  • Critical Care Medicine
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Biomedical Engineering

Background:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose a significant global health challenge.
  • Severe COVID-19 cases are often characterized by a dangerous cytokine storm.
  • Current treatments for severe COVID-19, particularly those involving cytokine storms, remain limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the efficacy of the artificial-liver blood-purification system (ALS) in managing cytokine storms associated with COVID-19.
  • To assess the impact of ALS on inflammatory mediator levels in COVID-19 patients.

Main Methods:

  • Cytokine levels were measured in 12 COVID-19 patients before and after treatment with ALS.
  • The study monitored the removal of inflammatory mediators by the ALS.

Main Results:

  • Preliminary results indicate that ALS treatment led to a reduction in cytokine levels.
  • The artificial-liver blood-purification system demonstrated the ability to rapidly remove inflammatory mediators.
  • Observed outcomes suggest a potential suppression of disease progression.

Conclusions:

  • The artificial-liver blood-purification system (ALS) shows potential as a novel therapeutic strategy for COVID-19.
  • ALS may effectively block cytokine storms and reduce inflammation in severe COVID-19 patients.
  • Further research is warranted to confirm the clinical utility of ALS in COVID-19 treatment.