Is immunosuppressive therapy an effective treatment for COVID-19? – literature review

OSTROWSKA, Barbara, KOŁODZIEJCZYK, Kacper, BRANEWSKA, Justyna, HOP, Izabela, MATYSEK, Mikołaj, OLSZANICKA, Anna, IMIOŁO, Jan, MACIĄG, Anna, NIEMIEC, Rafał & GALAS, Adam. Is immunosuppressive therapy an effective treatment for COVID-19? – literature review. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2023;29(1):45-51. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2023.29.01.005 https://apcz.umk.pl/JEHS/article/view/43633 https://zenodo.org/record/7930225 The journal has had 40 points in Ministry of Education and Science of Poland parametric evaluation. Annex to the announcement of the Minister of Education and Science of December 21, 2021. No. 32343. Has a Journal's Unique Identifier: 201159. Scientific disciplines assigned: Physical Culture Sciences (Field of Medical sciences and health sciences); Health Sciences (Field of Medical Sciences and Health Sciences). Punkty Ministerialne z 2019 - aktualny rok 40 punktów. Załącznik do komunikatu Ministra Edukacji i Nauki z dnia 21 grudnia 2021 r. Lp. 32343. Posiada Unikatowy Identyfikator Czasopisma: 201159. Przypisane dyscypliny naukowe: Nauki o kulturze fizycznej (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu); Nauki o zdrowiu (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu). © The Authors 2023; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 19.04.2023. Revised: 20.04.2023. Accepted: 15.05.2023. Published: 15.05.2023. Is immunosuppressive therapy an effective treatment for COVID-19? – literature review Czy leki immunosupresyjne są efektywnym sposobem leczenia COVID-19? – przegląd literatury Barbara Ostrowska, Kacper Kołodziejczyk, Justyna Branewska, Mikołaj Matysek, Anna Olszanicka, Jan Imioło, Anna Maciąg, Rafał Niemiec, Izabela Hop, Adam Galas Barbara Ostrowska ostrowskaxb@gmail.com Uniwersytecki Szpital Kliniczny im. F. Chopina w Rzeszowie https://orcid.org/0009-0005-1241-1450 Kacper Kołodziejczyk kakol0496@gmail.com 109 Szpital Wojskowy z Przychodnią SP ZOZ w Szczecinie https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0004-9908 Justyna Branewska justynabranewska@gmail.com Samodzielny Publiczny Wojewódzki Szpital Zespolony w Szczecinie https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9523-9551 Izabela Hop iza2310@gmail.com 109 Szpital Wojskowy z Przychodnią SP ZOZ w Szczecinie https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9260-8409 Mikołaj Matysek matysek0602@gmail.com Szpital Miejski Specjalistyczny im. Gabriela Narutowicza w Krakowie https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4826-3008 Anna Olszanicka olszanicka1995@gmail.com Szpital Uniwersytecki w Krakowie https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9381-978X Jan Imioło jimiolo95@gmail.com Szpital Specjalistyczny im. Stefana Żeromskiego SP ZOZ w Krakowie https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1575-6998 Anna Maciąg anna.maciag95@gmail.com Szpital Św. Michała Archanioła - Centrum Medyczne w Łańcucie https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1338-1883 Rafał Niemiec germanik1997@gmail.com Szpital Uniwersytecki w Krakowie https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9310-3285 Adam Galas galasadam3372@gmail.com Szpital Uniwersytecki w Krakowie https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5491-0687 ABSTRACT Introduction: The disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 is associated with a dysregulated immune response and a generalized inflammatory response. Therefore, during the search for effective therapy, attention was paid to drugs affecting and stabilizing such a response - tocilizumab, sarilumab, siltuximab, anakinra, baricitinib. Purpose of the work: Evaluation of the impact of immunosuppressant therapy on the course of the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Material and methods: The work was based on a review of available medical publications about immunosuppressive therapy for COVID-19 treatment. The literature in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases was searched based on the following keywords: tocilizumab, sarilumab, siltuximab, baricitinib, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, immunosuppressive therapy. Conclusion: Based on the analysis of the literature, the most effective therapeutic option seems to be tocilizumab. Promising alternatives may be sarilumab and siltuximab as they have the same target point of action. However, it is necessary to conduct further tests on their operation. The use of baricitinib may be useful, but probably only in certain circumstances. Anakinra proved to be much less effective. It should therefore be used with great caution. Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, immunosuppressive therapy, tocilizumab, sarilumab, siltuximab, baricitini