Recent Developments on Therapeutic and Diagnostic Approaches for COVID-19

Abstract

The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has made a serious public health threat worldwide with millions of people at risk in a growing number of countries. Though there are no clinically approved antiviral drugs and vaccines for COVID-19, attempts are ongoing for clinical trials of several known antiviral drugs, their combination, as well as development of vaccines in patients with confirmed COVID-19. This review focuses on the latest approaches to diagnostics and therapy of COVID-19. We have summarized recent progress on the conventional therapeutics such as antiviral drugs, vaccines, anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody treatments, and convalescent plasma therapy which are currently under extensive research and clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19. The developments of nanoparticle-based therapeutic and diagnostic approaches have been also discussed for COVID-19. We have assessed recent literature data on this topic and made a summary of current development and future perspectives.

Novel Therapeutical Approaches to Managing Atherosclerotic Risk

“…Recently, new anti-inflammatory treatment strategies of atherosclerosis have been introduced. Some of these drugs have recently been used for the suppression of the inflammatory cascade induced by some viruses, others for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases, and some others for systemic autoimmune inflammatory diseases [ 81 , 82 ]. Tocilizumab, a monoclonal antibody that blocks IL-6 receptors, has reduced myocardial damage and systemic inflammation, although there was a serious safety concern due to a significant increase in LDL-cholesterol levels soon after starting treatment [ 83 ].…”

Commentary: Mesenchymal Stem Cells: A New Piece in the Puzzle of COVID-19 Treatment

“…Therefore, it is important to acknowledge the importance of accumulating clinical experience in the use of MSCs, in order to rapidly expand its application in times of need. It is indeed possible that the immunization of the world’s population will constitute the main strategy to prevent COVID-19 spread, and that the current treatment alternatives based on dexamethasone, Remdesivir, and monoclonal antibodies ( 13 – 15 ), will possibly decrease the need for advanced therapies for COVID-19.…”

Recent updates on immunological, pharmacological, and alternative approaches to combat COVID-19

“…2 Various allopathic treatments of COVID-19. Targeting viral entry mechanisms, possible methods for blocking ACE2 receptors, and antiviral drugs in replication stage [modified from (Majumder and Minko 2021 )]. scFv single-chain variable fragment, TCZ tocilizumab …”

“…The disulfiram, a disulphide, an authorized medicine for alcohol misuse, is widely acclaimed to block the MERS and SARS PLpro, now present a potential role against SARS-Cov2. It inhibits the release of viral genome by hindering the papain-like protease in SARS-CoV2 (Majumder and Minko 2021 ; Beck et al 2020 ). The combination of disulfiram/ebselen and remdesivir is found effective against COVID-19 by hindering replication step in in vitro study (Chen et al 2021 ).…”