The Current Status and Challenges in the Development of Vaccines and Drugs against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)

• Published in: BioMed research international Vol. 2021; pp. 1 - 20
• Main Authors: Beeraka, Narasimha M., Tulimilli, SubbaRao V., Karnik, Medha, Sadhu, Surya P., Pragada, Rajeswara Rao, Aliev, Gjumrakch, Madhunapantula, SubbaRao V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Hindawi 01-06-2021; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; Hindawi Limited
• Subjects: Angiotensin; Antibodies; Antibody response; Antiviral agents; Clinical outcomes; Complications; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines; Cytokine storm; Cytokines; Disease control; Drug development; Drugs; Genomes; Glycoproteins; Infections; Leukocytes (eosinophilic); Lungs; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Lymphopenia; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Mutation; Pathogenesis; Pathophysiology; Patients; Peptidyl-dipeptidase A; Pharmacology, Experimental; Pneumonia; Proteins; Respiratory diseases; Review; RNA polymerase; Serological tests; Severe acute respiratory syndrome; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Therapeutic applications; Vaccines; Viral diseases; Viral infections; Viral vaccines; Virulence; Viruses; India; Russia
• ISSN: 2314-6133; 2314-6141
• DOI: 10.1155/2021/8160860

Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection causes coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), which is characterized by clinical manifestations such as pneumonia, lymphopenia, severe acute respiratory distress, and cytokine storm. S glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE-II) to enter into the lungs through membrane proteases consequently inflicting the extensive viral load through rapid replication mechanisms. Despite several research efforts, challenges in COVID-19 management still persist at various levels that include (a) availability of a low cost and rapid self-screening test, (b) lack of an effective vaccine which works against multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2, and (c) lack of a potent drug that can reduce the complications of COVID-19. The development of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 is a complicated process due to the emergence of mutant variants with greater virulence and their ability to invoke intricate lung pathophysiology. Moreover, the lack of a thorough understanding about the virus transmission mechanisms and complete pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 is making it hard for medical scientists to develop a better strategy to prevent the spread of the virus and design a clinically viable vaccine to protect individuals from being infected. A recent report has tested the hypothesis of T cell immunity and found effective when compared to the antibody response in agammaglobulinemic patients. Understanding SARS-CoV-2-induced changes such as “Th-2 immunopathological variations, mononuclear cell & eosinophil infiltration of the lung and antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE)” in COVID-19 patients provides key insights to develop potential therapeutic interventions for immediate clinical management. Therefore, in this review, we have described the details of rapid detection methods of SARS-CoV-2 using molecular and serological tests and addressed different therapeutic modalities used for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. In addition, the current challenges against the development of vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 are also briefly described in this article.