PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Calabrese, Leonard H.
AU  - Lenfant, Tiphaine
AU  - Calabrese, Cassandra
TI  - Interferon therapy for COVID-19 and emerging infections: Prospects and concerns
AID  - 10.3949/ccjm.87a.ccc066
DP  - 2020 Nov 20
TA  - Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
4099  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/early/2020/12/01/ccjm.87a.ccc066.short
4100  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/early/2020/12/01/ccjm.87a.ccc066.full
AB  - Numerous immunomodulating agents are currently being studied in clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19, including interferon therapies. Interferons are naturally occurring host antiviral proteins upstream of the inflammatory pathway that are released by host cells in response to the presence of viral pathogens. It is known that beta coronaviruses deploy anti-interferon defenses to escape host innate immunity early in the infection course, and thus interferons have become attractive candidates for treatment of COVID-19. Questions surrounding timing, type of interferon, and route of administration all remain unanswered. Here we discuss the role of interferons in host antiviral immunity, and review the current data surrounding use of interferons in COVID-19.