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© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has expanded into a global pandemic, with more than 220 million affected persons and almost 4.6 million deaths by 8 September 2021. In particular, Europe and the Americas have been heavily affected by high infection and death rates. In contrast, much lower infection rates and mortality have been reported generally in Africa, particularly in the sub-Saharan region (with the exception of the Southern Africa region). There are different hypotheses for this African paradox, including less testing, the young age of the population, genetic disposition, and behavioral and epidemiological factors. In the present review, we address different immunological factors and their correlation with genetic factors, pre-existing immune status, and differences in cytokine induction patterns. We also focus on epidemiological factors, such as specific medication coverage, helminth distribution, and malaria endemics in the sub-Saharan region. An analysis combining different factors is presented that highlights the central role of the NF-κB signaling pathway in the African paradox. Importantly, insights into the interplay of different factors with the underlying immune pathological mechanisms for COVID-19 can provide a better understanding of the disease and the development of new targets for more efficient treatment strategies.

Details

Title
COVID-19: Mechanistic Model of the African Paradox Supports the Central Role of the NF-κB Pathway
Author
Kircheis, Ralf 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Schuster, Manfred 2 ; Planz, Oliver 3 

 Syntacoll GmbH, 93342 Saal an der Donau, Germany 
 AGES GmbH, 1200 Vienna, Austria; [email protected] 
 Institute of Cell Biology and Immunology, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany 
First page
1887
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
19994915
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2576536381
Copyright
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.