Consideration of dornase alfa for the treatment of severe COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome

Abstract

We propose a likely contribution to severe COVID-19 morbidity by extracellular DNA in neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Dornase alfa degrades extracellular DNA to reduce mucus rigidity and accumulation, and was associated with respiratory improvement in a first patient. Dornase alfa should be considered for clinical trials in treatment of severe COVID-19.

Keywords

• acute respiratory distress syndrome
• COVID-19
• DNAse 1
• dornase alfa
• Neutrophil extracellular trap