Go to The Journal of Clinical Investigation
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Transfers
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Physician-Scientist Development
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • All ...
  • Videos
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Resource and Technical Advances
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Editorials
    • Perspectives
    • Physician-Scientist Development
    • Reviews
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • In-Press Preview
  • Resource and Technical Advances
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Editorials
  • Perspectives
  • Physician-Scientist Development
  • Reviews
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Transfers
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
The complement system in COVID-19: friend and foe?
Anuja Java, … , Alfred H.J. Kim, Hrishikesh S. Kulkarni
Anuja Java, … , Alfred H.J. Kim, Hrishikesh S. Kulkarni
Published June 18, 2020
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2020;5(15):e140711. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.140711.
View: Text | PDF
Review Article has an altmetric score of 110

The complement system in COVID-19: friend and foe?

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in a global pandemic and a disruptive health crisis. COVID-19–related morbidity and mortality have been attributed to an exaggerated immune response. The role of complement activation and its contribution to illness severity is being increasingly recognized. Here, we summarize current knowledge about the interaction of coronaviruses with the complement system. We posit that (a) coronaviruses activate multiple complement pathways; (b) severe COVID-19 clinical features often resemble complementopathies; (c) the combined effects of complement activation, dysregulated neutrophilia, endothelial injury, and hypercoagulability appear to be intertwined to drive the severe features of COVID-19; (d) a subset of patients with COVID-19 may have a genetic predisposition associated with complement dysregulation; and (e) these observations create a basis for clinical trials of complement inhibitors in life-threatening illness.

Authors

Anuja Java, Anthony J. Apicelli, M. Kathryn Liszewski, Ariella Coler-Reilly, John P. Atkinson, Alfred H.J. Kim, Hrishikesh S. Kulkarni

×

Full Text PDF

Download PDF (2.37 MB)

Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN 2379-3708

Sign up for email alerts

Picked up by 2 news outlets
Blogged by 1
Posted by 144 X users
On 1 Facebook pages
397 readers on Mendeley
See more details