Frontiers in Pharmacology (Jun 2020)

Potential Benefits of Tryptophan Metabolism to the Efficacy of Tocilizumab in COVID-19

  • Maria Laura Belladonna,
  • Ciriana Orabona

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2020.00959
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

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Tocilizumab has been proposed as a means of opposing hyperinflammatory responses in intensive care patients with COVID-19. Here, we briefly discuss the potentially multiple, synergistic mechanisms whereby tocilizumab might exert therapeutic activity, mostly focusing on the production of tryptophan-derived catabolites that would result from blockade of IL-6 signaling, as contextualized to the cytokine storm occurring in COVID-19 patients.

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