Editorial on Dexamethasone: Why Nano−Dexa formulations are the need of the hour in Covid times

Evidence in recent times has shown that a significant number of severe Covid-19 cases and related fatalities are due to an overreaction of the immune system leading to hyperinflammation and macrophage activation, which in turn results in an overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines (eg. IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α) also known as a cytokine storm. This process also results in coagulation abnormalities, which contribute to organ failure and fatalities. Even the RECOVERY trial results indicate that the health status of patients at 1-week post-COVID-19 infection is primarily debilitated NOT by viral replication but by immunological phenomena.

Dexamethasone the first drug to show life-saving efficacy in patients infected with COVID-19.

1. Dexamethasone reduces COVID-19 deaths by 35% in ICU patients who need mechanical ventilation.
2. In non-ventilated patients on oxygen therapy, dexamethasone reduces the mortality rate by 20%.
3. Moreover, shorter hospitalization time and a higher probability of hospital discharge within 28 days.

Dexamethasone enjoys the evidence of being the first and the only drug so far to significantly improve survival chances in COVID-19 patients. Another advantage for dexamethasone is it's a very well-known, well studied, and extensively used drug, which is widely available and very cheap.

It can be tried as a nanomedicine to be administered either IV or by inhalation.