Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS coronavirus 2 or SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of the respiratory infection known as COVID-19. From an immunopathological standpoint, coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2 induce an increase in a variety of T-helper 1 (Th1) and inflammatory cytokines and chemokines including interleukins IL-1, IL-6, CCL2 protein and CXCL10 protein. In the absence of proven antiviral agents or an effective vaccine, substances with immunomodulatory activity may be able to inhibit inflammatory and Th1 cytokines and/or yield an anti-inflammatory and/or Th2 immune response to counteract COVID-19 symptoms and severity. This report briefly describes four unconventional but commercially accessible immunomodulatory agents that could be employed in clinical trials to evaluate their effectiveness at alleviating disease symptoms and severity: Low-dose oral interferon-alpha, microdose DNA, low-dose thimerosal and phytocannabinoids.

Background: Lung cancer (LC) is a major leading cause of death worldwide. Immunomodulators that target several immune mechanisms have proven to reduce tumor burden in experimental models through induction of the immune microenvironment. We hypothesized that other biological mechanisms may also favor tumor burden reduction in lung cancer-bearing mice treated with immunomodulators. Methods: Tumor weight, area, and immune cells (T, B, macrophages, and TNF-alpha levels, immunohistochemistry) and tumor growth, oxidative stress, apoptosis, autophagy, and sirtuin-1 markers were analyzed (immunoblotting) in subcutaneous tumor of BALB/c mice injected with LP07 adenocarcinoma cells treated with monoclonal antibodies (CD-137, CTLA-4, PD-1, and CD-19, N=9/group) and non-treated control animals. Results: Compared to non-treated cancer mice, in tumors of monoclonal-treated animals, tumor area and weight and ki-67 significantly reduced, while T cell counts, oxidative stress, apoptosis, autophagy, and sirtuin-1 marker increased. Conclusion: Immunomodulators elicited a reduction in tumor burden (reduced tumor size and weight) through decreased tumor proliferation and increased oxidative stress, apoptosis, autophagy, and sirtuin-1 levels, which may have interfered with the immune profile of the tumor microenvironment. Future research should be devoted to the elucidation of the specific contribution of each biological mechanism to the reduced tumor burden.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2) is the virus that caused COVID-19 around the world. The disease starts off as a flu-like symptom and then eventually spreads in the human body.Infections are easily transmitted from human to human which makes it more severe among individuals. SARS-CoV-2 virus is in the same family of viruses SARS and MERS.As of today, there is no approved vaccine that can cure COVID-19. However, potential treatments showing promising improvement results among affected COVID-19 patients. In this review, the effectiveness of the current treatments for COVID-19 has been explored.