Pentoxifylline and Caffeine as a potential adjuvant therapy for
COVID-19 related respiratory symptoms
The respiratory clinical manifestations of patients with SARS-CoV-2
range from pneumonia, dyspnea, rhinorrhea, upper airway congestion,
cough, and pharyngalgia (Lai et al.
2020). In severe cases, death may result due to colossal alveolar
damage and progressive respiratory failure
(Chan et al. 2020). The main feature of
COVID-19 patients with severe disease is the acute onset of hypoxemic
respiratory failure with bilateral infiltrates known more commonly as
Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
(Murthy et al. 2020). For the COVID-19
patients with ARDS, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is
recommended (Matthay et al. 2020).
However, this process of ECMO is invasive and comes with practical
constraints that accompany intubation and mechanical ventilation. For
the less severe COVID-19 related respiratory symptoms where mechanical
ventilation is not required, alternative evidence-based treatment
options can be considered.