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World J Gastroenterol. Apr 7, 2023; 29(13): 1942-1954
Published online Apr 7, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i13.1942
Interferon-lambda: New role in intestinal symptoms of COVID-19
Yi-Yang Pan, Liu-Can Wang, Feng Yang, Min Yu
Yi-Yang Pan, Liu-Can Wang, Feng Yang, Department of General Surgery, Xinqiao Hospital, Army Medical University, Chongqing 400037, China
Min Yu, Department of General Surgery, Chongqing General Hospital, Chongqing 400013, China
Author contributions: Pan YY wrote the manuscript; Pan YY and Wang LC draw the pictures; Yang F collated the data; Yu M and Pan YY revised the manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (to M.Y.), No. 81970468.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Min Yu, PhD, Professor, Department of General Surgery, Chongqing General Hospital, No. 118 Xingguang Avenue, Liangjiang New District, Chongqing 400013, Chongqing, China. yumimianbao@163.com
Received: November 29, 2022
Peer-review started: November 29, 2022
First decision: December 19, 2022
Revised: December 25, 2022
Accepted: March 20, 2023
Article in press: March 20, 2023
Published online: April 7, 2023
Processing time: 128 Days and 20 Hours
Abstract

The tremendous public health and economic impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has become a huge challenge globally. There is increasing evidence that SARS-CoV-2 induces intestinal infections. Type III interferon (IFN-λ) has an antiviral role in intestinal infection, with focused, long-lasting, and non-inflammatory characteristics. This review presents a summary of the structure of SARS-CoV-2, including its invasion and immune escape mechanisms. Emphasis was placed on the gastrointestinal impact of SARS-CoV-2, including changes to the intestinal microbiome, activation of immune cells, and inflammatory responses. We also describe the comprehensive functions of IFN-λ in anti-enteric SARS-CoV-2 infection, and discuss the potential application of IFN-λ as a therapeutic agent for COVID-19 with intestinal symptoms.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Interferon-λ; Gastrointestinal infection; Mechanism; Anti-viral response

Core Tip: The tremendous public health and economic impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a huge challenge for countries across the whole world. Increased evidences have revealed that SARS-CoV-2 also induced intestinal infection. Type III interferon (IFN), also called IFN-λ, plays an antiviral role in intestinal infection, and has focused, long-lasting, as well as non-inflammatory characteristics. In this review, we summarized the invasion and immune escape mechanisms of the SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, we concerned about the gastrointestinal impact of the SARS-CoV-2 and the comprehensive role of IFN-λ, also called type III IFN, in anti-enteric SARS-CoV-2 infection.