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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 14, 2021; 27(22): 2944-2962
Published online Jun 14, 2021. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i22.2944
Interplay between nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 and inflammatory mediators in COVID-19-related liver injury
Dan-Dan Zhu, Xue-Mei Tan, Li-Qing Lu, Si-Jia Yu, Ru-Li Jian, Xin-Fang Liang, Yi-Xuan Liao, Wei Fan, Lucíia Barbier-Torres, Austin Yang, He-Ping Yang, Ting Liu
Dan-Dan Zhu, Xue-Mei Tan, Si-Jia Yu, Ru-Li Jian, Xin-Fang Liang, Yi-Xuan Liao, Ting Liu, Department of Gastroenterology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan Province, China
Li-Qing Lu, Key Laboratory of Cancer proteomics of Chinese Ministry of Health, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan Province, China
Wei Fan, Lucíia Barbier-Torres, He-Ping Yang, Department of Medicine, Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, United States
Austin Yang, Department of Biology, East Los Angeles College, Los Angeles, CA 91008, United States
Author contributions: Zhu DD, Tan XM, and Lu LQ contributed equally in reviewing the literature and drafting the manuscript; Yu SJ, Jian RL, Liang XF, Liao YX, and Fan W assisted in the literature review and drafting the manuscript; Barbier-Torres L provided critical reading of the manuscript; Yang A provided English editing and revisions; Liu T and Yang HP provided critical editing and revisions of the manuscript; All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82070632.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors have any conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ting Liu, MD, PhD, Doctor, Department of Gastroenterology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, No. 87 Xiangya Road, Changsha 410008, Hunan Province, China. liuting818@126.com
Received: January 28, 2021
Peer-review started: January 29, 2021
First decision: February 24, 2021
Revised: March 6, 2021
Accepted: April 25, 2021
Article in press: April 25, 2021
Published online: June 14, 2021
Processing time: 131 Days and 2.1 Hours
Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is a global pandemic and poses a major threat to human health worldwide. In addition to respiratory symptoms, COVID-19 is usually accompanied by systemic inflammation and liver damage in moderate and severe cases. Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) is a transcription factor that regulates the expression of antioxidant proteins, participating in COVID-19-mediated inflammation and liver injury. Here, we show the novel reciprocal regulation between NRF2 and inflammatory mediators associated with COVID-19-related liver injury. Additionally, we describe some mechanisms and treatment strategies.

Keywords: COVID-19-related liver injury; Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2; Inflammatory mediator; Oxidative stress; Therapeutic targets

Core Tip: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is a global pandemic and poses a major threat to human health worldwide. In this review, we provide the most comprehensive guide to nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 and inflammatory mediators in COVID-19-related liver injury, emphasizing their potential as targets for COVID-19 therapy.