Insight into the mechanisms of coronaviruses evading host innate immunity.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review of mechanistic literature without systematic search or original human trial data.
PubMed 36858323 · doi:10.1016/j.bbadis.2023.166671
What was done
This is a narrative review synthesizing literature on how pathogenic coronaviruses (specifically SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2) evade and suppress the host innate immune system.
What was found
The abstract reports no quantitative values or effect estimates. It notes that severe COVID-19 cases show lower interferon production relative to mild cases. Coronaviruses block or dampen innate immunity through multiple mechanisms, including antagonism of double-stranded RNA sensors, inhibition of mitochondrial antiviral-signaling protein (MAVS) and stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathways, epigenetic alterations, posttranslational modifications, and interference with host mRNA translation.
Why it matters
Understanding the molecular strategies coronaviruses use to disable innate antiviral defenses helps identify therapeutic targets for broad-spectrum antiviral strategies.
Limits
The paper is a non-systematic narrative review with no defined search protocol, study count, or quality assessment. The abstract reports no empirical data or statistical metrics, and mechanistic findings are largely derived from prior SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV models rather than direct clinical trial evidence.
Cited by
- supports SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and MERS suppress the innate immune system early in the course of infection.