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.