Type I interferons
Type I interferons designate a cluster of antiviral cytokines consisting
of the omnipresent α and β subtypes, along with the ω, ε and κ subtypes,
inducing large numbers of proteins that can undermine viral replication
in host cells (Samuel, 2001). Former researches have revealed that IFN-β
was superior against SARS-CoV in comparison with IFN-α (Scagnolari et
al., 2004). As for the clinical trial of type I interferons, in China,
therapy guidelines for COVID-19 recommend the management of 5 million U
of IFN-α via vapor inhalation in patients twice daily with ribavirin as
combined therapy (Dong et al., 2020). In the detailed study of Sallard
et al., they reported that IFN-β1 might constitute a safe and easy to
upscale therapy against COVID-19 in the early stages of the disease.
Besides, the in vitro data indicated that this virus might be
significantly more sensitive to IFN-I than other CoVs (Sallard et al.,
2020).