In December 2019, a cluster of pneumonia caused by a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), officially known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Cytokine storm is an uncontrolled systemic inflammatory response resulting from the release of large amounts of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines that occurs at phase 3 of viral infection. Such emergence led to the development of many clinical trials to discover efficient drugs and therapeutic protocols to fight with this single-stranded RNA virus. Corticosteroids suppress inflammation of the lungs during the cytokine storm, weaken immune responses, and inhibit the elimination of pathogen. For this reason, in COVID-19 corticosteroid therapy, systemic inhibition of inflammation is observed with a wide range of side effects. The present review discusses the effectiveness of the corticosteroid application in COVID-19 infection and the related side effects of these agents. In summary, a number of corticosteroids, including and especially methylprednisolone and dexamethasone, have demonstrated remarkable efficacy, particularly for COVID-19 patients who underwent mechanical ventilation.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Cytokine storm, adverse effects, corticosteroid therapy, 【초록키워드】 Corticosteroid, Dexamethasone, Methylprednisolone, Inflammation, viral infection, Efficacy, coronavirus, Corticosteroids, clinical trial, protocol, mechanical ventilation, Pneumonia, 2019-nCoV, lung, drug, chemokine, Novel coronavirus, China, pathogen, COVID-19 infection, immune responses, Wuhan, therapeutic, Effectiveness, Cluster, Side effects, Phase 3, COVID-19 patient, acute respiratory syndrome, Side effect, systemic inflammatory response, pro-inflammatory cytokine, single-stranded RNA virus, resulting, caused, inhibit, occur, demonstrated, suppress, inhibition of inflammation, the cytokine storm, 【제목키워드】 Side effect, Prevent, systemic corticosteroid,