SARS-CoV-2 Infection, Sex-Related Differences, and a Possible Personalized Treatment Approach with Valproic Acid: A Review

Sex differences identified in the COVID-19 pandemic are necessary to study. It is essential to investigate the efficacy of the drugs in clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19, and to analyse the sex-related beneficial and adverse effects. The histone deacetylase inhibitor valproic acid (VPA)...

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Published in:Biomedicines 2022-04, Vol.10 (5), p.962
Main Authors: Stakišaitis, Donatas, Kapočius, Linas, Valančiūtė, Angelija, Balnytė, Ingrida, Tamošuitis, Tomas, Vaitkevičius, Arūnas, Sužiedėlis, Kęstutis, Urbonienė, Daiva, Tatarūnas, Vacis, Kilimaitė, Evelina, Gečys, Dovydas, Lesauskaitė, Vaiva
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
clinical research
Clinical trials
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Cytokines
Disease
Enzymes
Females
Gender differences
Gene expression
Histone deacetylase
Immunomodulation
Immunosuppressive agents
Infections
Inflammation
Lungs
Males
Medical research
Metabolism
Metabolites
Plasma
pre-clinical research
Proteins
Review
RNA polymerase
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Sex differences
Testosterone
Valproic acid
Viral infections
Womens health
X chromosomes
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Summary:Sex differences identified in the COVID-19 pandemic are necessary to study. It is essential to investigate the efficacy of the drugs in clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19, and to analyse the sex-related beneficial and adverse effects. The histone deacetylase inhibitor valproic acid (VPA) is a potential drug that could be adapted to prevent the progression and complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection. VPA has a history of research in the treatment of various viral infections. This article reviews the preclinical data, showing that the pharmacological impact of VPA may apply to COVID-19 pathogenetic mechanisms. VPA inhibits SARS-CoV-2 virus entry, suppresses the pro-inflammatory immune cell and cytokine response to infection, and reduces inflammatory tissue and organ damage by mechanisms that may appear to be sex-related. The antithrombotic, antiplatelet, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, glucose- and testosterone-lowering in blood serum effects of VPA suggest that the drug could be promising for therapy of COVID-19. Sex-related differences in the efficacy of VPA treatment may be significant in developing a personalised treatment strategy for COVID-19.
ISSN:2227-9059
2227-9059
DOI:10.3390/biomedicines10050962