Background: The 2020 pandemic of COVID-19 infection, which has already lasted more than 22 months, is not subsiding. Despite the available vaccinations, the infection is still claiming many lives throughout the world,...Background: The 2020 pandemic of COVID-19 infection, which has already lasted more than 22 months, is not subsiding. Despite the available vaccinations, the infection is still claiming many lives throughout the world, especially among the unvaccinated people. The newly discovered and fast spreading Omicron variant also raises the concern if vaccination alone will be sufficient to win this battle. Purpose: In this concept paper, we examine the possible use dapsone, a century-old and safe medication, to treat patients with severe cases of pulmonary COVID-19 infection. Methods: We aim to delineate the similarities between IgA-mediated neutrophil-directed blistering skin diseases and the severe pulmonary COVID-19 infection by reviewing the relevant medical literatures, in order to compare the pathological mechanisms of these two different clinical situations. Results: Analysis of published reports reveals strong evidence pointing to the involvement of IgA and neutrophils in both clinical situations. In addition, results of a small clinical trial showed efficacy of dapsone in patients suffered with severe COVID-19 infection. Conclusions: Since dapsone is effective in treating IgA-mediated skin diseases by blocking the binding of neutrophils to the tissue site, it could also be an effective treatment for severe cases of COVID-19 lung injury, which has a similar pathological mechanism.展开更多
Background: SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the current COVID-19 infection pandemic, has caused substantial damage and negative impacts in the world, including physical sickness, mental illness, death, society l...Background: SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the current COVID-19 infection pandemic, has caused substantial damage and negative impacts in the world, including physical sickness, mental illness, death, society lock down, work interruption, and productivity reduction. From the onset in early 2020, the pandemic has not yet totally subsided as of July 2022. Although great efforts have been made to understand the nature of this pandemic by the medical and scientific communities, a comprehensive review of this pandemic has not been reported. Purpose: We aimed to perform a thorough review of the subject in order to come to a better understanding of the origin of the virus, its mutations and their corresponding health effects, its pathophysiology, and its responses to therapeutic intervention. A more comprehensive set of data on these subject matters, if available, would give healthcare providers a valuable tool in formulating the best methods to respond to the current disease and prevent the disease from spreading in the future. Method: An extensive literature search on the subjects of COVID-19 was conducted regarding the possible origin of the viral pathogen, its evolutionary changes and health impacts, the world’s responses to COVID-19 and outcomes of their responses, and healthcare professional’s actions to understand and manage the disease and the results of their actions. To gather these data, websites of PubMed and Google Scholar were utilized for the search with the following keywords: Pandemic, COVID-19, coronavirus, SARS, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, origin, pathogenesis, and treatment. Results: Our review revealed data that points to an interesting autoimmune phenomenon where most seriously sick patients affected by COVID-19 were documented by an IgA-dominant immune response to the pathogen, along with a neutrophil-directed infiltration to the vital organ in the lung aveola, resulting in critical lung injury, leading to respiratory failure, multi-organ failure, and death. Surprisingly, this IgA-mediated an展开更多
文摘Background: The 2020 pandemic of COVID-19 infection, which has already lasted more than 22 months, is not subsiding. Despite the available vaccinations, the infection is still claiming many lives throughout the world, especially among the unvaccinated people. The newly discovered and fast spreading Omicron variant also raises the concern if vaccination alone will be sufficient to win this battle. Purpose: In this concept paper, we examine the possible use dapsone, a century-old and safe medication, to treat patients with severe cases of pulmonary COVID-19 infection. Methods: We aim to delineate the similarities between IgA-mediated neutrophil-directed blistering skin diseases and the severe pulmonary COVID-19 infection by reviewing the relevant medical literatures, in order to compare the pathological mechanisms of these two different clinical situations. Results: Analysis of published reports reveals strong evidence pointing to the involvement of IgA and neutrophils in both clinical situations. In addition, results of a small clinical trial showed efficacy of dapsone in patients suffered with severe COVID-19 infection. Conclusions: Since dapsone is effective in treating IgA-mediated skin diseases by blocking the binding of neutrophils to the tissue site, it could also be an effective treatment for severe cases of COVID-19 lung injury, which has a similar pathological mechanism.
文摘Background: SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the current COVID-19 infection pandemic, has caused substantial damage and negative impacts in the world, including physical sickness, mental illness, death, society lock down, work interruption, and productivity reduction. From the onset in early 2020, the pandemic has not yet totally subsided as of July 2022. Although great efforts have been made to understand the nature of this pandemic by the medical and scientific communities, a comprehensive review of this pandemic has not been reported. Purpose: We aimed to perform a thorough review of the subject in order to come to a better understanding of the origin of the virus, its mutations and their corresponding health effects, its pathophysiology, and its responses to therapeutic intervention. A more comprehensive set of data on these subject matters, if available, would give healthcare providers a valuable tool in formulating the best methods to respond to the current disease and prevent the disease from spreading in the future. Method: An extensive literature search on the subjects of COVID-19 was conducted regarding the possible origin of the viral pathogen, its evolutionary changes and health impacts, the world’s responses to COVID-19 and outcomes of their responses, and healthcare professional’s actions to understand and manage the disease and the results of their actions. To gather these data, websites of PubMed and Google Scholar were utilized for the search with the following keywords: Pandemic, COVID-19, coronavirus, SARS, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, origin, pathogenesis, and treatment. Results: Our review revealed data that points to an interesting autoimmune phenomenon where most seriously sick patients affected by COVID-19 were documented by an IgA-dominant immune response to the pathogen, along with a neutrophil-directed infiltration to the vital organ in the lung aveola, resulting in critical lung injury, leading to respiratory failure, multi-organ failure, and death. Surprisingly, this IgA-mediated an
