Arthritis drugs may relieve long COVID symptoms

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WRIC) — University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have discovered that a class of drugs used to treat arthritis can also help treat the respiratory symptoms of long COVID.

Researchers from the university — led by Jie Sun, PhD — have found that getting infected by COVID-19 can cause changes in immune cells inside lung tissue. These changes include ongoing inflammation, which is believed to drive the lasting respiratory symptoms associated with long COVID.

The new research done by Sun and his colleagues shows that a class of drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis — including baricitinib — might be able to halt the chronic inflammation. These same drugs have received previous emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat inflammation seen in severe COVID-19 infections.

“Our study identified a root cause of the respiratory complication of long COVID by performing comparative analysis of both clinical samples and a relevant animal model,” Sun said. “We hope that the identification of the ‘driving’ mechanisms will help to rationally design clinical studies repurposing those FDA-approved drugs for respiratory long COVID soon.”

Additional research will be needed, but Sun hopes to break this cycle of inflammation.

The researchers have published their findings in the journal “Science Translational Medicine.”

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