Are superantigens the cause of cytokine storm and viral sepsis in severe COVID-19? Observations and hypothesis

Scandinavian Journal of Immunology
Valeria Scaglioni, Enrique R Soriano

Abstract

Right now the world is going through an unprecedented pandemic caused by a novel coronavirus. Recent papers pointed out the fatal outcome in most of the severe cases, in which a cytokine storm has been proven to be the cause of a systemic shock, acute respiratory syndrome, multiorgan failure and consequently death. Several explanations have been proposed trying to explain the pathophysiology of the cytokine storm, but viral proteins with a possible superantigen activity as a cause of immune dysregulation have not been addressed. If this hypothesis is proven, a different treatment approach might change the outcome in severe cases.

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Citations

Feb 24, 2021·Medical Hypotheses·John J L Jacobs
Apr 11, 2021·Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer·Paolo Antonio AsciertoHaiming Wei
Jul 20, 2021·Frontiers in Immunology·Rakhee K RamakrishnanImad M Tleyjeh

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