Covid, antidepressant drugs ‘shield’ against serious damage: the study

From antidepressant drugs a shield effect against the more serious damage of covid infection. Medicines that fight living pain, by acting on ‘neurological messengers’ such as serotonin and noradrenaline, are able to reduce the levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6) in the blood, a substance responsible for heavy inflammatory reactions and consequent lung damage in sick Covid. This is evidenced by a study by the Careggi University Hospital of Florence, published in ‘Panminerva medica’.

“IL-6, activated in an abnormal way by Covid-19, is the molecule mainly involved in the inflammatory storm responsible for most of the damage caused by the coronavirus to the body and in particular to the respiratory system – explains psychiatrist Leonardo Fei. director of Psychoncology of Careggi and author of the paper – We observed that some patients affected by the virus, even if debilitated by serious previous pathologies and therefore particularly at risk, showed symptoms and damages lessened than others in the same conditions. We identified the cause of the minor severity in treatment, even before hospitalization for Covid-19, with some antidepressants characterized by effects on the preservation of serotonin and noradrenaline levels in the brain, fundamental molecules in the therapy of depression “.

The study, in collaboration with Infectious Diseases, Immunoallergology and the Covid departments of Careggi Internal Medicine, “opens up a horizon on the understanding of the biochemical mechanisms underlying coronavirus inflammatory reactions – underlines Fei – and in perspective to the development of new therapies which, it is always good to clarify, are absolutely not attributable to the inappropriate use of anti-depressants, which must be used under strict medical supervision – the specialist points out – and with the utmost respect for the indications currently prescribed by international guidelines and by the competent health bodies ” .

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