ArticleThe Journal of experimental medicine2021
Inflammasomes are activated in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with COVID-19 severity in patients.
Article in The Journal of experimental medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 528 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Study Design of the Diacerein Effect on Inflammatory Response in Patients With Covid-19: a Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Double-blind Trial.
Potential Role of Inflammasome NLRP3 And IL-1B Gene Expression In COVID-19 Patients: Impact of Ferretin and D -Dimer.
Who cites it
528 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 844 citations in OpenAlex.
- Advances in NLRP3 inflammasome research in viral infections: evolution, trends, and future directions.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of Transcriptomic Data from Lung Autopsy and Cellular Models of SARS-CoV-2 Infection.Biochemical genetics · 2024Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of the Role of Purinergic Signalling Pathway in the Treatment of COVID-19.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Favorable Antiviral Effect of Metformin on SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load in a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial of COVID-19.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2024Trial
- Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial.Nature communications · 2024Trial
- Efficacy and safety of MAS825 (anti-IL-1β/IL-18) in COVID-19 patients with pneumonia and impaired respiratory function.Clinical and experimental immunology · 2023Trial
- Colchicine reduces the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome in COVID-19 patients.Inflammation research : official journal of the European Histamine Research Society ... [et al.] · 2023Trial
- Metabolic control of macrophages in coronavirus disease 2019.Virulence · 2026Review
- Targeting pyroptosis in intestinal and systemic inflammatory diseases: mechanisms and therapeutic opportunities.Molecular biology reports · 2026Review
- Aurora A exacerbates antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection through ASC phosphorylation.EMBO reports · 2026Article
- Caspase-11-mediated hyperinflammation impairs CD8+ T cell immunity and viral clearance in severe SARS-CoV-2 infection.JCI insight · 2026Article
- The NLRP3 inflammasome in physiological and dysfunctional host response in human sepsis and critical illness: a narrative review.Critical care (London, England) · 2026Review
- Porcine coronavirus promotes NLRP3 inflammasome activation during virus-induced neuroinflammation.mBio · 2026Article
- β-Cell Dysfunction in COVID-19 and Post-COVID Syndrome: Molecular Mechanisms Linking Inflammation, Oxidative Stress, and Insulin Secretion.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Involvement of NLRP3 Inflammasome in Methamphetamine Augmentation of SARS-CoV-2 N-Protein-Induced Neuroinflammation in Rat Microglial Cells.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Targeting the NLRP3 Inflammasome with Colchicine in COVID-19: Therapeutic Evidence and Future Implications for Influenza.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Plasma Cytokine and Caspase-1p20 Profiles in Pre-Pandemic and Long COVID-Associated Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.Biomedicines · 2026Article
- The cell with many faces: lung macrophage plasticity and function in response to environmental and pathogenic insults.Physiological reviews · 2026Review
- The triple-hit hypothesis: exploring pulmonary e-cigarette, PMEuropean respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026Review
468 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
44 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Severe cases of COVID-19 are characterized by a strong inflammatory process that may ultimately lead to organ failure and patient death. The NLRP3 inflammasome is a molecular platform that promotes inflammation via cleavage and activation of key inflammatory molecules including active caspase-1 (Casp1p20), IL-1β, and IL-18. Although participation of the inflammasome in COVID-19 has been highly speculated, the inflammasome activation and participation in the outcome of the disease are unknown. Here we demonstrate that the NLRP3 inflammasome is activated in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and is active in COVID-19 patients. Studying moderate and severe COVID-19 patients, we found active NLRP3 inflammasome in PBMCs and tissues of postmortem patients upon autopsy. Inflammasome-derived products such as Casp1p20 and IL-18 in the sera correlated with the markers of COVID-19 severity, including IL-6 and LDH. Moreover, higher levels of IL-18 and Casp1p20 are associated with disease severity and poor clinical outcome. Our results suggest that inflammasomes participate in the pathophysiology of the disease, indicating that these platforms might be a marker of disease severity and a potential therapeutic target for COVID-19.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.