IMR Press / FBL / Volume 26 / Issue 5 / DOI: 10.52586/4924
Open Access Review
Phytotherapy for treatment of cytokine storm in COVID-19
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1 Department of Biotechnology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), 110029 New Delhi, India
*Correspondence: rupesh_srivastava13@yahoo.co.in; rupeshk@aiims.edu (Rupesh K. Srivastava)
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2021, 26(5), 51–75; https://doi.org/10.52586/4924
Submitted: 25 August 2020 | Accepted: 27 January 2021 | Published: 30 April 2021
Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by BRI.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Abstract

In 2020, a novel strain of coronavirus (COVID-19) has led to a significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. As of the date of this writing, a total of 116 M cases has been diagnosed worldwide leading to 2.5 M deaths. The number of mortalities is directly correlated with the rise of innate immune cells (especially macrophages) in the lungs that secrete inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β and IL-6) leading to the development of “Cytokine Storm Syndrome” (CSS), multi-organ-failure and death. Given that currently the treatment of this condition is rare and release of effective vaccine might be months away, here, we review the plants and their pharmacologically active-compounds as potential phytopharmaceuticals for the virus induced inflammatory response. Experimental validation of the effectiveness of these natural compounds to prevent or reduce the cytokine storm might be beneficial as an adjunct treatment of SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords
COVID-19
Cytokine Storm Syndrome
CSS
Immune system
Phytotherapeutics
Review
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