COVID-19 Cytokine Storm in Myasthenia Gravis Treated with Mesenchymal Stem Cells: The First Philippine Experience

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to plague especially the immunocompromised, and yet little is known regarding its treatment on patients who present clinically similar like those with Myasthenia Gravis (MG) in crisis. We examined the case of a patient with MG secondary to malignant thymoma who went into COVID-19 cytokine storm and during her recovery, also suffered a postinfectious myasthenic crisis. After 10 days of intubation and completing 4 doses of mesenchymal stem cell therapy (MSc), thepatient significantly improved and was discharged ambulatory with assistance oxygen-requiring on nasal cannula coexistent with a decrease in measured cytokine levels. Immunosuppressive treatment, defective immunoregulatory mechanisms, pro-inflammatory state and respiratory muscle weakness in MG has all shown worse outcomes in COVID-19. Both diseases share a common pathomechanism and recovery depends on a healthy T-cell regulatory and B-cell response. MSc, with its immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties, is thus promising in COVID-19 treatment in the setting of autoimmunity.