16 research outputs found
Statins: Could an old friend help the fight against COVID-19?
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: "Statins: Could an old friend help the fight against COVID-19?" . British Journal of Pharmacology (2020): 19 June, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.15166. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versionshe COVID-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has overwhelmed healthcare systems requiring the rapid development of treatments, at least, to reduce COVID-19 severity. Drug repurposing offers a fast track. Here, we discuss the potential beneficial effects of statins in COVID-19 patients based on evidence that they may target virus receptors, replication, degradation, and downstream responses in infected cells, addressing both basic research and epidemiological information. Briefly, statins could modulate virus entry, acting on the SARS-CoV-2 receptors, ACE2 and CD147, and/or lipid rafts engagement. Statins, by inducing autophagy activation, could regulate virus replication or degradation, exerting protective effects. The well-known anti-inflammatory properties of statins, by blocking several molecular mechanisms, including NF-ÎșB and NLRP3 inflammasomes, could limit the "cytokine storm" in severe COVID-19 patients which is linked to fatal outcome. Finally, statin moderation of coagulation response activation may also contribute to improving COVID-19 outcomesThis work and data discussed here were supported by grants from the Instituto de
Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and Fondos FEDER European Union (PI17/00119 and Red de
InvestigaciĂłn Renal (REDINREN): RD16/0009, to M.R-O, PI17/01495 to J.E, PI18/01133 to
AMR, PI19/00815 to A.O); Comunidad de Madrid (âNOVELRENâ B2017/BMD3751
to
M.R-O, B2017/BMD-3686 CIFRA2-CM to A.O); Spanish Ministry of Economy and
Competitiveness MINECO (DTS17/00203, DTS19/00093) to J,E; âConvocatoria
DinamizaciĂłn Europa InvestigaciĂłn 2019â MINECO (EIN2019-103294 to M.R-O and SR-M);
ERA-PerMed-JTC2018 (KIDNEY ATTACK AC18/00064 and PERSTIGAN AC18/00071)
and DTS18/00032 to A.O; The âSara Borrellâ postdoctoral training program of the ISCIII
supported the salary of SR-M (CD19/00021), IMPROVE-PD project (âIdentification and
Management of Patients at RiskâOutcome and Vascular Events in Peritoneal Dialysisâ)
funding from the European Unionâs Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the
Marie SkĆodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 812699 to M.R.O