Danial Mehranfard
1 
, Robert C. Speth
1,2* 1 College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
2 Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, School of Medicine, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
Abstract
The cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (CAP) first described by Wang et al, 2003 has contemporary interest arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. While tobacco smoking has been considered an aggravating factor in the severity of COVID-19 infections, it has been suggested by some that the nicotine derived from tobacco could lessen the severity of COVID-19 infections. This spotlight briefly describes the CAP and its potential role as a therapeutic target for the treatment of COVID-19 infections using vagus nerve stimulation or selective alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonists.