SCIENTISTS DISCOVER BIOLOGICAL 'SIGNATURES' FOR WORST COVID-19 CASES

Filenews 6 August 2020

Gradually scientists shed more light on one of the most complex mysteries of the coronavirus pandemic: Why some people get very seriously ill from Covid-19, while others recover quickly. New studies confirm that in some patients their immune system ceases to function in a coordinated way and becomes upside down, resulting in the onset of severe disease.

"We're seeing some crazy things happen at different stages of infection," the head of one of the new research, Japanese-born immunobiology professor Akiko Ivasaki of Yale University School of Medicine, told the New York Times. Instead of the body of some unfortunate patients enlisting against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus the necessary cells and molecules of the immune system to fight the "invader", it uncoordinatedly unleashes an excessive "weapons barrage", which result in great damage to many healthy tissues.

Scientists, who study these unusual and self-destructive immune responses, have slowly identified biological "signatures" that allow them to distinguish patients who have gone on a path to recovery from those on their way to dangerous deterioration. This should help in the timely adaptation of treatments according to the reaction of each patient, with the aim of mitigating their symptoms or perhaps even destroying the crown, before it can cause the harmful immune response.

"A lot of evidence shows us that we need to act early enough to change the trajectory of the disease," said immunologist John Warey of the University of Pennsylvania, lead of another recent study on the virus's characteristic immune "signatures."

In the most familiar respiratory infections, e.g. from the influenza virus, the body orchestrates its defenses in two phases: First comes the "cavalry" of certain direct action molecules that flock to the area of infection and try to contain the invader, saving valuable time until the most specialized and slower reinforcements arrive.

To a large extent, the first immune response, which triggers inflammation, is directed by cytokines, signaling molecules that - like tiny alarms - can then mobilize other more effective "weapons" of the body (antibodies and T-lymphocytes).

Unfortunately, as confirmed by several studies, this coordinated immune response is collapsing in patients with severe Covid-19. The result is cytokines, instead of simply ringing the bell, continue to sound an alarm without stopping, even after reinforcements (antibodies and T-lymphocytes) have reached the field of infection, resulting in the inevitable flame of inflammation developing into a large fire.

"It is normal to develop inflammation during a virus infection. The problem occurs when inflammation intensifies," noted anosologist Katherine Bliss of Stanford University in California. In some patients, in fact, this condition continues for an unexpectedly long time, which is why some people feel that, although it has been some time since the beginning of their infection, they do not say to get well.

An "enigma" was mentioned by the anosologist Ivery August of Cornell University, as, as he said, "while this manic immune response manifests itself, the virus continues to reproduce".

Source: eyenews/KYPE