1,721,586 research outputs found
Ferritin and Severe COVID-19, from Clinical Observations to Pathogenic Implications and Therapeutic Perspectives
No full textA virally-induced cytokine storm syndrome, associated with a massive and overwhelming systemic inflammation, burdens a subgroup of patients with severe coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), which leads to pulmonary inflammation and extensive lung damage. These severe COVID-19 patients are characterized by high ferritin levels. These findings mirror what was previously reported about the prognostic role of this iron storage protein in other inflammatory diseases included in the hyperferritinemic syndrome. The latter suggests that ferritin could be a further pathogenic mediator in enhancing the inflammatory process, stimulating inflammatory pathways, and thus perpetuating a vicious pathogenic loop. Considering its activity as an immune activator, a therapeutic approach targeting ferritin may be also postulated in these diseases. Considering these observations, high ferritin levels characterize severe COVID-19 and other diseases included in the hyperferritinemic syndrome. Because ferritin could enhance the inflammatory process, it could be tested as a possible new therapeutic target to improve the outcome of these patients
Pathogenesis of adult onset still’s disease: current understanding and new insights
No full textIntroduction: Adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) is a rare inflammatory disorder typically characterized by fever, arthritis, and hyperferritinemia. Concerning AOSD pathogenesis, it is categorized as a multigenic autoinflammatory disease, at the ‘crossroads’ of autoinflammatory and autoimmune diseases, because of the involvement of both arms of immune system. Areas covered: This work is conceived as narrative overview assessing the pathogenesis of AOSD. We performed a narrative synthesis of published information, summarizing the contents of previous studies and providing a possible rationale for future researches. MedLine database was searched for identification of suitable studies. In reporting the available evidence, we described the results according to distinct pathogenic steps associated with different clinical features of the disease. Expert commentary: AOSD is a systemic severe inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology affecting young adults. Although pathogenesis of the disease is not fully clarified, the role of the pro-inflammatory cytokines is well-recognized and biologic drugs, blocking these molecules, are routinely used in clinical practice. Finally, given that multiple recent lines of evidence have suggested new insights in AOSD pathogenesis, new therapeutic targets have been highlighted and the results of studies with new drugs could further improve the management of these patients
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