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Tackling Immune Pathogenesis of COVID-19 through Molecular Pharmaceutics
Matteo Puccetti1, Claudio Costantini2, Maurizio Ricci1
1Department of Pharmaceutical Science, University of Perugia, 06132 Perugia, Italy.
Abstract:
An increasing number of clinical studies worldwide are investigating the repurposing of antiviral, immune-modulatory, and anti-inflammatory agents to face the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic. Nevertheless, few effective therapies exist to prevent or treat COVID-19, which demands increased drug discovery and repurposing efforts. In fact, many currently tested drugs show unknown efficacy and unpredictable drug interactions, such that interventions are needed to guarantee access to effective and safe medicines. Anti-inflammatory therapy has proven to be effective in preventing further injury in COVID-19 patients, but the benefit comes at a cost, as targeting inflammatory pathways can imply an increased risk of infection. Thus, optimization of the risk/benefit ratio is required in the anti-inflammatory strategy against COVID-19, which accounts for drug formulations and delivery towards regionalization and personalization of treatment approaches. In this perspective, we discuss how better knowledge of endogenous immunomodulatory pathways may optimize the clinical use of novel and repurposed drugs against COVID-19 in inpatient, outpatient, and home settings through innovative drug discovery, appropriate drug delivery systems and dedicated molecular pharmaceutics.
Insights
Drug repurposing for COVID-19 is crucial due to limited treatments. Optimizing anti-inflammatory strategies requires understanding immune pathways for safer, personalized medicine delivery.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- Immunology
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Limited effective therapies exist for coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), necessitating drug discovery and repurposing.
- Current COVID-19 treatments, including repurposed drugs, often have unknown efficacy and unpredictable interactions.
- Anti-inflammatory therapies show promise but carry risks, such as increased infection susceptibility, requiring risk/benefit optimization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To discuss optimizing anti-inflammatory strategies for COVID-19 treatment.
- To explore how understanding endogenous immunomodulatory pathways can improve drug use.
- To highlight the role of innovative drug discovery, delivery systems, and molecular pharmaceutics.
Main Methods:
- Review of current clinical studies on repurposed antiviral, immune-modulatory, and anti-inflammatory agents for COVID-19.
- Analysis of risk/benefit profiles for anti-inflammatory strategies in COVID-19 management.
- Discussion of personalized and regionalized treatment approaches using novel drug formulations and delivery systems.
Main Results:
- Optimizing the risk/benefit ratio of anti-inflammatory therapy is essential for COVID-19 patients.
- Knowledge of endogenous immunomodulatory pathways can guide the clinical application of drugs.
- Innovative drug discovery and delivery systems are key to personalized COVID-19 treatment.
Conclusions:
- Better understanding of immunomodulatory pathways can optimize the use of novel and repurposed drugs for COVID-19.
- Personalized and regionalized treatment approaches, considering drug formulation and delivery, are needed.
- Future strategies should focus on innovative drug discovery and molecular pharmaceutics for effective and safe COVID-19 therapies.
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