Abstract

  Only few studies are available to evaluate the effectiveness of corticosteroids in SARS and SARS-CoV-2. Corticosteroids is a hormone, as well as a drug, having therapeutic levels and lethal doses, so needs to balance the doses accordingly to the disease. Here we discuss the use of steroids in SARS, MERS and COVID-19 with reviewing the pharmacological and immunological basis of steroids in virus pathology. Steroids can be beneficial in these viral infections by suppressing SARS-CoV induced antibodies, T cells, B cells, cytokines, chemokines, complement signaling, antibody-dependent enhancement, vascular and hematological manifestations, viral replication and COX-2/PGE2 pathways. Steroids can also protects against cell apoptosis and enhance tissue recovery. Corticosteroids have shown some favorable outcomes in patients with SARS and COVID-19 but delayed viral clearance and secondary infections have been reported. Currently it is difficult to formulate clear recommendations regarding steroid use in COVID-19 but can be used in selected patients.

Keywords: SARS coV; SARS co V-2; Corticosteroids

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Citation

Citation: SM Rathnasiri Bandara and HMMTB Herath. “Corticosteroid Actions on COVID-19 and SARS Viral Immune Pathology; A Review Article". Acta Scientific Microbiology 4.3 (2020): 176-190.

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Copyright: © 2020 SM Rathnasiri Bandara and HMMTB Herath. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.