Oxidative Stress, Antioxidant Defenses, COVID-19 and Pollution

Abstract

Patients with degenerative diseases present a chronic oxidative stress state, which puts them at a disadvantage when facing viral infections such as COVID-19. This is because there is a close relationship between redox signaling and this inflammatory response. Therefore, chronic changes in the redox balance cause alterations in the regulation of the immune system. An inflammatory response that must be reparative and self-limited loses its function and remains over time. In a chronic state of oxidative stress, there is a deficiency of antioxidants. This results in low levels of hormones, vitamins and trace elements, which are essential for the regulation of these systems. Furthermore, low levels of antioxidants imply a diminished capacity for a regulated inflammatory responses are much more vulnerable to a cytokine storm that mainly attacks the lungs, since they present a vicious circle between the null or diminished response of the antioxidant systems and the loss of regulation of the inflammatory process. Therefore, these patients are at a disadvantage in counteracting the response of defense systems to infection from SAR-COV19. A plausible option may be to restore the levels of Vitamins A, B, C, D, E and of essential trace elements such as manganese, selenium, zinc, in the body, which are key to either preventing or reducing the severity of the response of the immune system to the disease caused by SAR-CoV2. For the present review, we searched the specific sites of the Cochrane library database, PubMed and Medscape. The inclusion criteria were documents written in English or Spanish, published during the last 10 years.