Functional Role of Dietary Intervention to Improve the Outcome of COVID-19: A Hypothesis of Work.

Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia, Italy. Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology and Unit of Dietetics and Sports Medicine, Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", 80138 Naples, Italy. Department of History, Society and Studies on Humanity, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy. Department of Law, Forensic Medicine, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy. Department of General Surgery and Medical-Surgical Specialties, University of Catania, 95121 Catania, Italy. Department of Mental Health, Physical and Preventive Medicine, Clinic of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", 81100 Caserta, Italy. Department of Education Sciences, Psychology and Communication, University of Bari, 70121 Bari, Italy.

International journal of molecular sciences. 2020;(9)
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Abstract

On the 31 December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was informed of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown origin detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. The infection spread first in China and then in the rest of the world, and on the 11th of March, the WHO declared that COVID-19 was a pandemic. Taking into consideration the mortality rate of COVID-19, about 5-7%, and the percentage of positive patients admitted to intensive care units being 9-11%, it should be mandatory to consider and take all necessary measures to contain the COVID-19 infection. Moreover, given the recent evidence in different hospitals suggesting IL-6 and TNF-α inhibitor drugs as a possible therapy for COVID-19, we aimed to highlight that a dietary intervention could be useful to prevent the infection and/or to ameliorate the outcomes during therapy. Considering that the COVID-19 infection can generate a mild or highly acute respiratory syndrome with a consequent release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-6 and TNF-α, a dietary regimen modification in order to improve the levels of adiponectin could be very useful both to prevent the infection and to take care of patients, improving their outcomes.

Methodological quality

Publication Type : Review

Metadata

MeSH terms : Antioxidants