A Comprehensive Summary of the Knowledge on COVID-19 Treatment

Abstract

Currently, the world is challenged by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Epidemiologists and researchers worldwide are invariably trying to understand and combat this precarious new disease. Scrutinizing available drug options and developing potential new drugs are urgent needs to subdue this pandemic. Several intervention strategies are being considered and handled worldwide with limited success, and many drug candidates are yet in the trial phase. Despite these limitations, the development of COVID-19 treatment strategies has been accelerated to improve the clinical outcome of patients with COVID-19, and some countries have efficiently kept it under control. Recently, the use of natural and traditional medicine has also set the trend in coronavirus treatment. This review aimed to discuss the prevailing COVID-19 treatment strategies available globally by examining their efficacy, potential mechanisms, limitations, and challenges in predicting a future potential treatment candidate and bridging them with the effective traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The findings might enrich the knowledge on traditional alternative medication and its complementary role with Western medicine in managing the COVID-19 epidemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; Chinese Medicine; strategies; treatment.

Figure 1.

The development of COVID19. Viral infection: TMPRSS2 cleaves the S protein of SARS-CoV-2; The RBD on the S1 subunit binds to ACE2 on the cell surface. Following entry into the cell, viral RNA is released and combined with RdRp to synthesize a full-length negative-strand RNA as an RNA replication template. After translation, structural proteins are localized to the inner membrane of Golgi for assembly. Cytokine storm syndrome: The immune system is over-activated, followed by the overproduction of multiple inflammatory factors. Multiple immune cells are recruited. As a result, healthy cells are damaged by overactive immune response. Acute respiratory distress syndrome: In the exudative phase, macrophages are activated and release pro-inflammatory mediators, which leads to the aggregation of neutrophils and monocytes. Activated neutrophils induce further damage. The injury leads to loss of barrier function and fluid accumulation in the interstitium and alveoli. In the proliferative period, the tissue homeostasis is recovered.