Baracaldo-Santamaría D, Barros-Arias GM, Hernández-Guerrero F, De-La-Torre A, Calderon-Ospina CA. Immune-related adverse events of biological immunotherapies used in COVID-19.
Front Pharmacol 2022;
13:973246. [PMID:
36091800 PMCID:
PMC9461090 DOI:
10.3389/fphar.2022.973246]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The use of biological immunotherapeutic drugs is one of the options currently being evaluated and employed to manage COVID-19, specifically monoclonal antibodies, which have shown benefit by regulating the excessive immune response seen in patients with severe infection, known as a cytokine storm. Tocilizumab has received particular importance for this clinical application, as has sarilumab. Both drugs share a substantial similarity in terms of pharmacodynamics, being inhibitors of the interleukin six receptor (IL-6Rα). Furthermore, sotrovimab, a neutralizing anti-SARS CoV-2 antibody, has gained the attention of the scientific community since it has recently been authorized under certain circumstances, positioning itself as a new therapeutic alternative in development. However, despite their clinical benefit, biological immunotherapies have the potential to generate life-threatening immune-related adverse events. Therefore it is essential to review their incidence, mechanism, and risk factors. This review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the safety of the biological immunotherapeutic drugs currently recommended for the treatment of COVID-19, provide a review of the known immune-mediated adverse events and explore the potential immune-related mechanisms of other adverse reactions.
Collapse