Antirheumatic Drugs against COVID-19 from the Perspective of Rheumatologists

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains a global threat to humanity. Its pathogenesis and different phases of disease progression are being elucidated under the pandemic. Active viral replication activates various immune cells and produces large amounts of inflammatory cytokines, which leads to the cytokine storm, a major cause of patient death. Therefore, viral inhibition is expected to be the most effective early in the course of the disease, while immunosuppressive treatment may be useful in the later stages to prevent disease progression. Based on the pathophysiology of rheumatic diseases, various immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive drugs are used for the diseases. Due to their mechanism of action, the antirheumatic drugs, including hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, colchicine, calcineurin inhibitors (e.g., cyclosporine A and tacrolimus), glucocorticoids, cytokines inhibitors, such as anti-tumor necrosis factor-α (e.g., infliximab), anti-interleukin (IL)-6 (e.g., tocilizumab, sarilumab, and siltuximab), anti-IL-1 (e.g., anakinra and canakinumab) and Janus kinase inhibitors (e.g., baricitinib and tofacitinib), cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 blockade agents (e.g., abatacept), and phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitors (e.g., apremilast), have been tried as a treatment for COVID-19. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms of action and clinical impact of these agents in the management of COVID-19.