Abstract
The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to a serious global pandemic. Although an oxidative stress imbalance occurs in COVID-19 patients, the contributions of thiol/disulphide homeostasis and nitric oxide (NO) generation to the pathogenesis of COVID-19 have been poorly identified. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of antiviral drug therapy on the serum dynamics of thiol/disulphide homeostasis and NO levels in COVID-19 patients. A total of 50 adult patients with COVID-19 and 43 sex-matched healthy control subjects were enrolled in this prospective study. Venous blood samples were collected immediately on admission to the hospital within 24 h after the diagnosis (pre-treatment) and at the 15th day of drug therapy (post-treatment). Serum native thiol and total thiol levels were measured, and the amounts of dynamic disulphide bonds and related ratios were calculated. The average pre-treatment total and native thiol levels were significantly lower than the post-treatment values (P < 0.001 for all). We observed no significant changes in disulphide levels or disulphide/total thiol, disulphide/native thiol, or native thiol/total thiol ratios between pre- and post-treatments. There was also a significant increase in serum NO levels in the pre-treatment values when compared to control (P < 0.001) and post-treatment measurements (P < 0.01). Our results strongly suggest that thiol/disulphide homeostasis and nitrosative stress can contribute to the pathogenesis of COVID-19. This study was the first to show that antiviral drug therapy can prevent the depletion in serum thiol levels and decrease serum NO levels in COVID-19 patients.
Keywords: Antiviral therapy; COVID-19; Disulfide; Nitric oxide; Thiol.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, antiviral therapy, nitric oxide, thiol, Disulfide, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus disease, antiviral therapy, Coronavirus disease 2019, therapy, Pathogenesis, Stress, nitric oxide, hospital, Prospective Study, Diagnosis, thiol, oxidative stress, novel coronavirus disease, drug therapy, antiviral drug, Novel coronavirus, global pandemic, serum, Admission, homeostasis, COVID-19 patients, Disulfide, venous blood, subject, significant increase, healthy control, average, pathogenesis of COVID-19, Depletion, significantly lower, Prevent, decrease, enrolled, significant changes in, collected, calculated, contribute, occur, evaluate the effect, were measured, patients with COVID-19, 【제목키워드】 therapy, nitric oxide, antiviral drug, homeostasis, COVID-19 patient, Effect,