Secreted Protein Acidic and Rich in Cysteine (SPARC) to Manage Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic and the Post-COVID-19 Health Crisis

Abstract

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has had and will have impacts on public health and health system expenses. Indeed, not only it has led to high numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, but its consequences will remain even after the end of the COVID-19 crisis. Therefore, therapeutic options are required to both tackle the COVID-19 crisis and manage its consequences during the post COVID-19 era. Secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) is a biomolecule that is associated with various properties and functions that situate it as a candidate which may be used to prevent, treat and manage COVID-19 as well as the post-COVID-19-era health problems. This paper highlights how SPARC could be of such therapeutic use.

Obesity and Bone Mineral Density Protection Paradox in Chronic Kidney Disease: Secreted Protein Acidic and Rich in Cysteine as a Piece of the Puzzle?

“…The importance of highlighting such an obesity paradox derives from the fact that obesity represents the epidemic of our era, which is expected to continue increasing [71]. Finally, such mechanistic links can represent starting points towards developing therapies based on SPARC or on the molecular targeting of SPARCrelated pathways, as we have already suggested in diverse pathological contexts [72][73][74]. However, the gap is still large, as further experiments are required to investigate the hypothesis of obesity and the bone mineral density protection paradox involving SPARC as the link among other biomolecules.…”