There is an urgent need to develop effective therapies for COVID-19. Here, we discuss the potential of targeting the complement system in these patients……., the upstream positioning of C3 signalling in the innate immune cascade further argues for the broader anti-inflammatory potential of C3 blockade with agents such as AMY-101, which is currently being tested in patients with COVID-19. C3 inhibition could simultaneously block C3a and C5a generation, as well as intrapulmonary C3 activation and IL-6 release from alveolar macrophages, or other cells that express C3a receptors (C3aRs) and/or C5a receptors (C5aRs), thereby ameliorating lung injury. Ex vivo whole blood infection models with the compstatin C3 inhibitor AMY-101 have shown that this interferes with IL-6 release…….
Authors: Risitano AM, Mastellos DC, Huber-Lang M, Yancopoulou D, Garlanda C, Ciceri F, Lambris JD.
Reference: Complement as a target in COVID-19?. Nat Rev Immunol (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-020-0320-7
