Study summary · research use only
Thymosin Alpha 1 Mitigates Cytokine Storm in Blood Cells From Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients
Plain-language summary
Paraphrased from the published abstract below — not a verdict on whether anything works.
In this study using blood cells from patients with COVID-19 (human), the authors examined biological processes regulated by thymosin alpha 1 (Tα1) in CD8+ T cells under inflammatory conditions. They report that genes associated with cytokine signaling and production were upregulated in blood cells from COVID-19 patients, and that ex vivo treatment with Tα1 was associated with reduced cytokine expression and inhibited lymphocyte activation specifically in a CD8+ T-cell subset. The authors describe these data as suggesting a potential role for Tα1 in modulating immune response homeostasis and cytokine storm in vivo.
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is characterized by immune-mediated lung injury and complex alterations of the immune system, such as lymphopenia and cytokine storm, that have been associated with adverse outcomes underlining a fundamental role of host response in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection and the pathogenesis of the disease. Thymosin alpha 1 (Tα1) is one of the molecules used in the management of COVID-19, because it is known to restore the homeostasis of the immune system during infections and cancer. In this study, we captured the interconnected biological processes regulated by Tα1 in CD8+ T cells under inflammatory conditions. Genes associated with cytokine signaling and production were upregulated in blood cells from patients with COVID-19, and the ex vivo treatment with Tα1-mitigated cytokine expression, and inhibited lymphocyte activation in a CD8+ T-cell subset specifically. These data suggest the potential role of Tα1 in modulating the immune response homeostasis and the cytokine storm in vivo.
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