Shareen Janelle Arnold

Ms. Shareen Janelle Arnold

University of Belize
orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

6Years (2021-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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8 December 2021 in Antibiotics
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Paul Marcel MorganPaul Marcel Morgan
Paul Marcel Morgan
Shareen Janelle ArnoldShareen Janelle Arnold
Shareen Janelle Arnold
NHNai-Wan Hsiao
Nai-Wan Hsiao
CSChih-Wen Shu
Chih-Wen Shu
The term cytokine storm refers to an uncontrolled overproduction of soluble inflammatory markers known as cytokines and chemokines. Autoimmune destruction of the lungs triggered by the release of these inflammatory markers often induces acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). ARDS is an emergency condition with a high mortality rate in COVID-19 patients. Dexamethasone is the first repurposed corticosteroid with life-saving efficacy in patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. Dexamethasone has traditionally been known to suppress the production of inflammatory markers at the transcriptional level, but its role as a direct therapeutic to neutralize cytokines, chemokines, their receptors, and functionally critical SARS-CoV-2 proteins has not yet been explored. Herein, we demonstrated that dexamethasone binds with high affinity to interlukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, IL-21, INF2, TGFβ-1, INF-γ, CXCL8, some of the receptors, IL-1R, IL-21R, IFNGR, INFAR, IL-6αR-gp130, ST2 and the SARS-CoV-2 protein NSP macro X, and 3CLpro, forming stable drug–protein complexes. Our work implied that dexamethasone has the potential to directly neutralize inflammatory markers, further supporting its life-saving potential in patients with severe manifestations of COVID-19.