State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
Guangzhou Laboratory, Bio-island, Guangzhou, China.
Front Immunol. 2021 Sep 28;12:701443. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.701443. eCollection 2021.
The airway mucus barrier is a primary defensive layer at the airway surface. Mucins are the major structural components of airway mucus that protect the respiratory tract. Respiratory viruses invade human airways and often induce abnormal mucin overproduction and airway mucus secretion, leading to airway obstruction and disease. The mechanism underlying the virus-induced abnormal airway mucus secretion has not been fully studied so far. Understanding the mechanisms by which viruses induce airway mucus hypersecretion may open new avenues to treatment. In this article, we elaborate the clinical and experimental evidence that respiratory viruses cause abnormal airway mucus secretion, review the underlying mechanisms, and also discuss the current research advance as well as potential strategies to treat the abnormal airway mucus secretion caused by SARS-CoV-2.
气道黏液屏障是气道表面的主要防御层。黏蛋白是气道黏液的主要结构成分，可保护呼吸道。呼吸道病毒侵袭人体气道，常导致黏液过度产生和气道黏液分泌，引起气道阻塞和疾病。目前尚未充分研究病毒诱导异常气道黏液分泌的机制。了解病毒诱导气道黏液过度分泌的机制可能为治疗开辟新途径。本文详细阐述了呼吸道病毒引起异常气道黏液分泌的临床和实验证据，综述了潜在机制，并讨论了目前针对 SARS-CoV-2 引起的异常气道黏液分泌的治疗的研究进展和潜在策略。
