Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), first emerged in late 2019 and has since rapidly become a global pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 infection causes damages to the lung and other organs. The clinical manifestations of COVID-19 range widely from asymptomatic infection, mild respiratory illness to severe pneumonia with respiratory failure and death. Autopsy studies demonstrate that diffuse alveolar damage, inflammatory cell infiltration, edema, proteinaceous exudates, and vascular thromboembolism in the lung as well as extrapulmonary injuries in other organs represent key pathological findings. Herein, we hypothesize that GPR4 plays an integral role in COVID-19 pathophysiology and is a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of COVID-19. GPR4 is a pro-inflammatory G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) highly expressed in vascular endothelial cells and serves as a “gatekeeper” to regulate endothelium-blood cell interaction and leukocyte infiltration. GPR4 also regulates vascular permeability and tissue edema under inflammatory conditions. Therefore, we hypothesize that GPR4 antagonism can potentially be exploited to mitigate the hyper-inflammatory response, vessel hyper-permeability, pulmonary edema, exudate formation, vascular thromboembolism and tissue injury associated with COVID-19.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Inflammation, vascular permeability, Thromboembolism, Endothelial cell, GPR4, 【초록키워드】 Treatment, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, Respiratory failure, SARS-COV-2 infection, lung, global pandemic, pathophysiology, edema, asymptomatic infection, death, Pulmonary edema, Diffuse alveolar damage, severe pneumonia, coronavirus disease 19, Interaction, regulate, Injury, tissue injury, clinical manifestation, acute respiratory syndrome, Vascular, G protein-coupled receptor, tissue, hyper-inflammatory response, other organs, pathological findings, inflammatory conditions, potential therapeutic target, leukocyte infiltration, inflammatory cell infiltration, pro-inflammatory, mitigate, vessel, vascular endothelial cell, Cell, caused, expressed, cause, mild respiratory, other organ, with COVID-19, 【제목키워드】 target, Potential, Can,