COVID-19 as part of the hyperferritinemic syndromes: the role of iron depletion therapy.

SARS-CoV-2 infection is characterized by a protean clinical picture that can range from asymptomatic patients to life-threatening conditions. Severe COVID-19 patients often display a severe pulmonary involvement and develop neutrophilia, lymphopenia, and strikingly elevated levels of IL-6. There is an over-exuberant cytokine release with hyperferritinemia leading to the idea that COVID-19 is part of the hyperferritinemic syndrome spectrum. Indeed, very high levels of ferritin can occur in other diseases including hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, macrophage activation syndrome, adult-onset Still's disease, catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome and septic shock. Numerous studies have demonstrated the immunomodulatory effects of ferritin and its association with mortality and sustained inflammatory process. High levels of free iron are harmful in tissues, especially through the redox damage that can lead to fibrosis. Iron chelation represents a pillar in the treatment of iron overload. In addition, it was proven to have an anti-viral and anti-fibrotic activity. Herein, we analyse the pathogenic role of ferritin and iron during SARS-CoV-2 infection and propose iron depletion therapy as a novel therapeutic approach in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma: Focusing on antioxidant therapy.

Oxidative stress has been investigated in the context of alcoholic liver injury for many years and shown to be a causal factor of chronic hepatitis C (CHC), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), drug-induced liver injury, Wilson's disease, and hemochromatosis. In CHC, it has been demonstrated that oxidative stress plays an important role in hepatocarcinogenesis. In cases with persistent hepatitis due to failure of hepatitis C virus eradication, or chronic liver disease, such as NASH, the treatment of which remains unestablished, it is important to reduce serum alanine aminotransferase levels and prevent liver fibrosis and development of hepatocellular carcinoma. This also suggests the importance of antioxidant therapy. Among treatment options where it would be expected that anti-inflammatory activity plays a role in their confirmed efficacy for chronic hepatitis, iron depletion therapy, glycyrrhizin, ursodeoxycholic acid, Sho-Saiko-To, and vitamin E can all be considered antioxidant therapies. To date, however, the ability of these treatments to prevent cancer has been confirmed only in CHC. Nevertheless, anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects have been demonstrated in other liver diseases and these therapies may potentially be effective for cancer prevention.