Challenges and Opportunities for Post-COVID Pulmonary Disease: A Focused Review of Immunomodulation
Name
ijms-26-03850.pdf
Size
1.87 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
f9c77699bdaefd1d15249f6efea9eaec
Author(s) • • • •
Verbeeck Mendez, Steffi
Do Orozco, Isabella L.
Gavilanez-Chavez, Guadalupe E.
Nava-Zavala, Arnulfo Hernán
Zavala-Cerna, Maria G.
Date Issued
April 18, 2025
Journal
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Citation
Verbeeck Mendez, S.; Do Orozco, I.L.; Gavilanez-Chavez, G.E.; Nava-Zavala, A.H.; Zavala-Cerna, M.G. Challenges and Opportunities for Post-COVID Pulmonary Disease: A Focused Review of Immunomodulation. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26, 3850.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The resolution of the recent COVID-19 pandemic still requires attention, since the consequences of having suffered the infection, even in mild cases, are associated with several acute and chronic pathological conditions referred to as post-COVID syndrome (PCS). PCS often manifests with pulmonary disease and, in up to 9% of cases, a more serious complication known as post-COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis (PC19-PF), which has a similar clinical course as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Generating knowledge to provide robust evidence about the clinical benefits of different therapeutic strategies to treat the pulmonary effects of PCS can provide new insights to amplify therapeutic options for these patients. We present evidence found after a scoping review, following extended PRIMSA guidelines, for the use of immunomodulators in pulmonary PCS. We start with a brief description of the immunomodulatory properties of the relevant drugs, their clinically proven efficacy for viral infections and chronic inflammatory conditions, and their use during the COVID-19 pandemic. We emphasize the need for well-designed clinical trials to improve our understanding the physiopathology of pulmonary PCS and PC19-PF and also to determine the efficacy and safety of candidate treatments.
MIT Department
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26083850