The potential similarities of COVID-19 and autoimmune disease pathogenesis and therapeutic options: new insights approach

Abstract

Cytokine pathways and their signaling disorders can be the cause of onset and pathogenesis of many diseases such as autoimmune diseases and COVID-19 infection. Autoimmune patients may be at higher risk of developing infection due to the impaired immune responses, the use of immunosuppressive drugs, and damage to various organs. Increased secretion of inflammatory cytokines and intolerance of the patient's immune system to COVID-19 infection are the leading causes of hospitalization of these patients. The content used in this paper has been taken from English language articles (2005-2020) retrieved from the PubMed database and Google Scholar search engine using "COVID-19," "Autoimmune disease," "Therapeutic," "Pathogenesis," and "Pathway" keywords. The emergence of COVID-19 and its association with autoimmune disorders is a major challenge in the management of these diseases. The results showed that the use of corticosteroids in the treatment of autoimmune diseases can make diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 more challenging by preventing the fever. Due to the common pathogenesis of COVID-19 and autoimmune diseases, the use of autoimmune drugs as a possible treatment option could help control the virus. Key Points • Inflammatory cytokines play an essential role in the pathogenesis of COVID-19 • ACE2 dysfunctions are related to the with COVID-19 and autoimmune diseases • The use autoimmune diseases drugs can be useful in treating COVID-19

Arthritis after SARS-CoV-2 infection

“…In 2015, French citizens were among the populations with the lowest perception of vaccine safety globally, with 41•0% disagreeing that vaccines are safe. 4 Data from 2019 showed that the perception of vaccine safety varies considerably with nationality. In Denmark, 47•2% of the population strongly agreed that vaccines are safe, compared with only 29•8% of the population in the Netherlands and 29•7% of the French population.…”

Long-COVID and Post-COVID Health Complications: An Up-to-Date Review on Clinical Conditions and Their Possible Molecular Mechanisms

“…As a consequence, this signaling stimulates immunity cells involved in chronic inflammatory processes that can lead to pulmonary degeneration, pulmonary fibrosis, loss of function (with impaired oxygenation, culminating in a state of delayed hypoxia), hypoxemia, and anoxia (in more severe conditions), ultimately causing death [15]. Patients who have cardiopulmonary or metabolic comorbidities (e.g., diabetes mellitus), autoimmune diseases, or who are undergoing any treatment that might compromise their immunity (e.g., chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or corticotherapy) have a higher risk of death [15][16][17][18][19].…”

The effect of inflammatory factors and their inhibitors on the hematopoietic stem cells fate

“…For example, research conducted on a mouse model of malaria infection found that myelolymphoid IL‐7 Ra + cKit‐hi progenitor was effectively produced in response to IFN‐γ. After this study, it can be stated that IFN‐γ signaling greatly contributes to the production of myeloid cells and reduction of parasitic infection (Belyaev et al, 2010; Najafi et al, 2020). In addition to these factors, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) may be a regulator of urgent myelopoiesis in inflammatory conditions.…”

“…On the other hand, IL‐17 family members can lead to the production of inhibitory cytokines like transforming growth factor beta (TGF‐β), which is associated with the inhibition of progenitor growth (Matsuzaki et al, 2018; Mojsilović et al, 2015) (Figure 1). IL‐17 appears to activate the apoptosis process in progenitors by activating NF‐κB pathway to prevent their proliferation (Najafi et al, 2020). Several studies have examined the role of this cytokine in hematopoietic malignancies such as AML (Han et al, 2014) and CLL (Jain et al, 2012) as well as its function in angiogenesis (Wakita et al, 2010; Wróbel et al, 2003).…”