AHR and COVID-19: Gupta et al. (2025) reported that chronic inflammation and immune dysregulation driven by AHR activity may account for the persistence of long COVID symptoms (Gupta et al., 2025). AHR’s influence on T-helper 17 (Th17) cell differentiation and IL-22 secretion, as described by Moura-Alves et al. (2014), may further exacerbate respiratory inflammation and cytokine storm events in COVID-19 patients. Furthermore, AHR suppresses IFN-α/β responses, key antiviral defences, thereby prolonging viral replication and increasing disease severity (Moura-Alves et al., 2014).