NLRP3 inflammasome activation and its inhibitory drugs in connection with COVID-19 infection

SARS-CoV-2 virus belongs to the beta coronavirus family that cause the inflammatory condition, acute pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). ARDS is the most important reason of mortality in patients, characterized as a highly increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion. Inflammasome is a complex, which has an essential role in inflammatory situation, and NOD, LRR- and pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) is the most studied inflammasome that is considered to play vital roles in the virus infection and its pathogenesis. Our search language was limited to English and the search was performed in Web of Science, PubMed and Embase. Based on published articles, our current narrative review first explains the structure of the SARS-Cov2 virus and then describes the function of the NLRP3 inflammasome in relation to COVID-19 and drugs effective in controlling it. The NLRP3 inflammasome activation related to the initiation of inflammatory cascade including important cytokines production and releases such as IL-6, TNF-α and IL-1β. Thus, targeting the NLRP3 as a member of the innate immune system may be helpful for the reduction of ARDS clinical symptoms in COVID-19 patients.