Imiquimod - A toll like receptor 7 agonist - Is an ideal option for management of COVID 19

  • Environ Res. 2020 Sep;188:109858. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.109858.
Athina Angelopoulou  1 ,  Nikos Alexandris  1 ,  Evangelia Konstantinou  1 ,  Konstantinos Mesiakaris  1 ,  Charilaos Zanidis  1 ,  Konstantinos Farsalinos  1 ,  Konstantinos Poulas  2
Affiliations
  • 1. Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Immunology, Department of Pharmacy, University of Patras, 26500, Greece.
  • 2. Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Immunology, Department of Pharmacy, University of Patras, 26500, Greece. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 32846644 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.109858
Abstract

According to numerous recent publications, the COVID-19 patients have lymphopenia, higher infection-related biomarkers and several elevated inflammatory cytokines (i.e. tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin IL-2R and IL-6). The total number of B cells, T cells and NK cells are significantly decreased. RNA viruses, SARS-CoV-2 included, hit the innate immune system in order to cause Infection, through TLRs 3, 7 and 8. Imiquimod is an immune-stimulator that activates TLR 7 and can be used to enhance the innate and adaptive immunity. Preclinical and clinical trials are proposed.

Keywords
Covid-19; Imiquimod; Treatment.
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