Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are launching a clinical trial to determine if the drug fluvoxamine can prevent "cytokine storms," in which the body is flooded with immune cell mediators called cytokines. This frenzied immune response can lead to life-threatening organ failure and has been a major concern in patients with severe COVID-19 infections.
UVA researchers Alban Gaultier, Ph.D., and Dorian A Rosen, Ph.D., found last year that fluvoxamine may stop the deadly inflammation known as sepsis, in which the immune response spirals out of control. The drug, they determined, reduced the production of cytokines. It proved effective in mice as a preventative treatment for sepsis, and now it will be tested as a protective measure for patients with COVID-19.
