The Role of Autophagy in Respiratory Complications of COVID-19

Background: The rapid spreading of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide results in pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome in many patients, which can be the major cause of death in cases with COVID-19. It has been reported that chloroquine (CQ) has improved COVID-19-induced pneumonia in clinical trials. Objectives: Since CQ and its derivatives are proved to exhibit anti-autophagy properties based on previous studies, autophagy can be introduced as a possible mechanism of respiratory complications. Methods: In the current study, we reviewed papers of Google Scholar database with no time limitation. Results: It was revealed that autophagy has an important role in the manifestation of COVID-19 respiratory complications Conclusions: Autophagy is triggered by SARS-CoV2 virus for its replication and autophagy inhibitory treatments might be considered promising therapeutics.