ReviewInternational journal of immunopathology and pharmacology
Systemic corticosteroids for management of COVID-19: Saving lives or causing harm?
Review in International journal of immunopathology and pharmacology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative effect of different corticosteroids in severe community-acquired pneumonia: a network meta-analysis.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2025Article
- Fatal risk factors and the efficacy of glucocorticoid therapy in severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome: a multicenter retrospective cohort study.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Article
- Glucocorticoids, their uses, sexual dimorphisms, and diseases: new concepts, mechanisms, and discoveries.Physiological reviews · 2024Review
- Observational
- Rationale for combined therapies in severe-to-critical COVID-19 patients.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- COVID-19: Some unresolved issues.Revista espanola de quimioterapia : publicacion oficial de la Sociedad Espanola de Quimioterapia · 2022Review
- Nanostructured Lipid Carriers Loaded with Dexamethasone Prevent Inflammatory Responses in Primary Non-Parenchymal Liver Cells.Pharmaceutics · 2022Article
- Review
- Mechanisms and clinical evidence to support melatonin's use in severe COVID-19 patients to lower mortality.Life sciences · 2022Review
- Asthma and COVID-19 Associations: Focus on IgE-Related Immune Pathology.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Development of a novel score model to predict hyperinflammation in COVID-19 as a forecast of optimal steroid administration timing.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Article
- Practices, knowledge, and attitudes of community pharmacists towards dispensing drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross sectional study from Jordan.Pharmacy practiceArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The underlying cause of many complications associated with severe COVID-19 is attributed to the inflammatory cytokine storm that leads to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which appears to be the leading cause of death in COVID-19. Systemic corticosteroids have anti-inflammatory activity through repression of pro-inflammatory genes and inhibition of inflammatory cytokines, which makes them a potential medical intervention to diminish the upregulated inflammatory response. Early in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, the role of corticosteroids was unclear. Corticosteroid use in other indications such as ARDS and septic shock has proven benefit while its use in other respiratory viral pneumonias is associated with reduced viral clearance and increased secondary infections. This review article evaluates the benefits and harms of systemic corticosteroids in patients with COVID-19 to assist clinicians in improving patient outcomes, including patient safety. Dexamethasone up to 10 days is the preferred regimen to reduce mortality risk in COVID-19 patients requiring oxygen support, mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. If dexamethasone is unavailable, other corticosteroids can be substituted at equivalent doses. Higher doses of corticosteroids may be beneficial in patients who develop ARDS. Corticosteroids should be avoided early in the disease course when patients do not require oxygen support because of potential harms.
Indexed as
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.