Potential therapeutic effect of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists on COVID-19-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious diseases caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Now, it is pandemic over the world. SARS-CoV-2 often causes a “cytokine storm” in people with COVID-19, causing inflammatory lung damage and pneumonia, which eventually leads to death. Glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is well known as an incretin hormone responsible for regulation of blood glucose through its receptor. Beyond glycemic control, GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) have promising anti-inflammatory actions in human and rodent pathological models. Recent studies proved that GLP-1RAs attenuate pulmonary inflammation, reduce cytokine production, and preserve lung function in mice and rats with experimental lung injury. Moreover, a thickened pulmonary vascular wall, an important characteristic of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) was observed in the autopsy lung tissue of a COVID-19 patient. Thus GLP-1RAs may be a novel therapeutic strategy for combating this pandemic specifically for patient characteristics of PHA after COVID-19 infection.