Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, United States.
Immuno-Oncology Program, Division of Immunotherapy, Department of Surgery, The James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, United States.
Front Immunol. 2020 Jul 14;11:1782. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.01782. eCollection 2020.
As the SARS-CoV-2 virus wreaks havoc on the populations, health care infrastructures and economies of nations around the world, finding ways to protect health care workers and bolster immune responses in the general population while we await an effective vaccine will be the difference between life and death for many people. Recent studies show that innate immune populations may possess a form of memory, termed Trained Immunity (TRIM), where innate immune cells undergo metabolic, mitochondrial, and epigenetic reprogramming following exposure to an initial stimulus that results in a memory phenotype of enhanced immune responses when exposed to a secondary, heterologous, stimulus. Throughout the literature, it has been shown that the induction of TRIM using such inducers as the BCG vaccine and β-glucan can provide protection through altered immune responses against a range of viral infections. Here we hypothesize a potential role for β-glucan in decreasing worldwide morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19, and posit several ideas as to how TRIM may actually shape the observed epidemiological phenomena related to COVID-19. We also evaluate the potential effects of β-glucan in relation to the immune dysregulation and cytokine storm observed in COVID-19. Ultimately, we hypothesize that the use of oral β-glucan in a prophylactic setting could be an effective way to boost immune responses and abrogate symptoms in COVID-19, though clinical trials are necessary to confirm the efficacy of this treatment and to further examine differential effects of β-glucan's from various sources.
随着 SARS-CoV-2 病毒在世界各国肆虐，破坏着人们的生命、医疗基础设施和经济，寻找保护医护人员和增强普通人群免疫力的方法，将成为许多人能否生死攸关的关键。最近的研究表明，固有免疫群体可能具有一种记忆形式，称为训练免疫（TRIM），即在固有免疫细胞暴露于初始刺激后，会经历代谢、线粒体和表观遗传重编程，从而导致在暴露于二次、异源刺激时增强免疫反应的记忆表型。在整个文献中，已经表明使用卡介苗（BCG）疫苗和β-葡聚糖等诱导剂来诱导 TRIM 可以通过改变免疫反应来提供针对各种病毒感染的保护。在这里，我们假设 β-葡聚糖在降低 COVID-19 导致的全球发病率和死亡率方面可能具有潜在作用，并提出了一些关于 TRIM 如何实际影响与 COVID-19 相关的观察到的流行病学现象的想法。我们还评估了 β-葡聚糖与 COVID-19 中观察到的免疫失调和细胞因子风暴相关的潜在影响。最终，我们假设在预防环境中使用口服 β-葡聚糖可能是一种增强免疫反应和减轻 COVID-19 症状的有效方法，但需要进行临床试验来确认这种治疗的疗效，并进一步研究来自不同来源的 β-葡聚糖的差异影响。
