ReviewJCI insight2020
The complement system in COVID-19: friend and foe?
Review in JCI insight, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 230 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
230 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 390 citations in OpenAlex.
- The immunopathological spectrum of COVID-19: from cytokine storm to autoimmunity-a systematic review.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of the serum/plasma proteome identifies significant associations between COVID-19 with Alzheimer's/Parkinson's diseases.Journal of neurovirology · 2024Pooled it
- Acute respiratory distress syndrome: potential of therapeutic interventions effective in treating progression from COVID-19 to treat progression from other illnesses-a systematic review.BMJ open respiratory research · 2023Pooled it
- Novel genes and sex differences in COVID-19 severity.Human molecular genetics · 2022Pooled it
- COVID-19 and the Immune Response: A Multi-Phasic Approach to the Treatment of COVID-19.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Pooled it
- Therapeutic Targeting of the Complement System: From Rare Diseases to Pandemics.Pharmacological reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of the investigational complement C5 inhibitor zilucoplan in patients hospitalized with COVID-19: an open-label randomized controlled trial.Respiratory research · 2022Trial
- Complement blockade with eculizumab for treatment of severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 in pregnancy: A case series.American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989) · 2022Trial
- A randomized diet-induced weight-loss intervention reduces plasma complement C3: Possible implication for endothelial dysfunction.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2022Trial
- Complement system component dysregulation is a distinctive feature of COVID-19 disease: a prospective and comparative analysis of patients admitted to the emergency department for suspected COVID-19 disease.Journal of thrombosis and thrombolysis · 2022Trial
- Inflammation in atherosclerosis: Drivers, mechanisms and therapies.Acta pharmaceutica Sinica. B · 2026Review
- Internalized components of membrane attack complexes disrupt proteostasis and acquire alarmin-like properties.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Internalized Components of Membrane Attack Complexes Disrupt Proteostasis and Acquire Alarmin-Like Properties.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The Complement System and Its Role in Eosinophilic Inflammation in Respiratory Diseases.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Disease-Causing Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets in Infectious Diseases: Implications for Clinical Management and Public Health.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Profiling complement proteins in pediatric tuberculosis children with or without serological evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 exposure.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Emergency use of eculizumab in impending and manifest myasthenic crisis: a retrospective case series.Therapeutic advances in neurological disorders · 2026Article
- Case Report: COVID-19 unmasks factor H mutation-driven hemolytic uremic syndrome in a previously undiagnosed septuagenarian kidney transplant recipient.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Machine learning identifies clinical sepsis phenotypes that translate to the plasma proteome.Infection · 2025Article
- Exploring the biological mechanisms of severe COVID-19 in the elderly: Insights from an aged mouse model.Virulence · 2025Article
170 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in a global pandemic and a disruptive health crisis. COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality have been attributed to an exaggerated immune response. The role of complement activation and its contribution to illness severity is being increasingly recognized. Here, we summarize current knowledge about the interaction of coronaviruses with the complement system. We posit that (a) coronaviruses activate multiple complement pathways; (b) severe COVID-19 clinical features often resemble complementopathies; (c) the combined effects of complement activation, dysregulated neutrophilia, endothelial injury, and hypercoagulability appear to be intertwined to drive the severe features of COVID-19; (d) a subset of patients with COVID-19 may have a genetic predisposition associated with complement dysregulation; and (e) these observations create a basis for clinical trials of complement inhibitors in life-threatening illness.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.