Author(s)

Vu Thuong Nguyen¹, Lawrence S. Chan^2,3*

¹Advanced Cosmeceuticals Enterprises, Inc., Sacramento, California, USA.
²Department of Dermatology, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
³Department of Medicine, Captain James Lovell FHCC, North Chicago, IL, USA.

Background: The 2020 pandemic of COVID-19 infection, which has already lasted more than 22 months, is not subsiding. Despite the available vaccinations, the infection is still claiming many lives throughout the world, especially among the unvaccinated people. The newly discovered and fast spreading Omicron variant also raises the concern if vaccination alone will be sufficient to win this battle. Purpose: In this concept paper, we examine the possible use dapsone, a century-old and safe medication, to treat patients with severe cases of pulmonary COVID-19 infection. Methods: We aim to delineate the similarities between IgA-mediated neutrophil-directed blistering skin diseases and the severe pulmonary COVID-19 infection by reviewing the relevant medical literatures, in order to compare the pathological mechanisms of these two different clinical situations. Results: Analysis of published reports reveals strong evidence pointing to the involvement of IgA and neutrophils in both clinical situations. In addition, results of a small clinical trial showed efficacy of dapsone in patients suffered with severe COVID-19 infection. Conclusions: Since dapsone is effective in treating IgA-mediated skin diseases by blocking the binding of neutrophils to the tissue site, it could also be an effective treatment for severe cases of COVID-19 lung injury, which has a similar pathological mechanism.

Dapsone, IgA, Neutrophils, COVID-19, Lung Injury

Nguyen, V. and Chan, L. (2022) Dapsone: A Century-Old Medicine and a New Hope for Severe COVID-19. Advances in Infectious Diseases, 12, 50-56. doi: 10.4236/aid.2022.121004.