Immune mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 and potential drugs in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19

The lack of specific vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, as well as chemotherapy, significantly affected the spread of infection and the number of adverse outcomes of COVID-19. With the discovery of the pathogenesis of coronavirus infection, especially immune mechanisms, the important role of the innate immunity system in interacting with the virus is obvious. The presence of comorbid conditions, as well as the aging of the body, lead to disturbances in the immune response mechanism, low interferon induction, depletion of CD8 -lymphocytes and natural killers and suppression of the effectiveness of both innate and adaptive immunity. The review discusses various mechanisms of antiviral activity associated with the induction of interferon (IFN) production, the use of direct IFN therapy, the use of antiviral drugs, and immunotropic therapy (synthetic immunomodulators), as promising in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.