Why do some people get sick with COVID-19 and others do not? Stanford University Research May Unravel Mystery

Why do some people become very ill with COVID-19, while others suffer from benign symptoms? A new study unveiled this week, where three key molecules appear to play a key role.

All of these important indicators, found in the bloodstream of critically ill patients, can be characterized as specific cytokines, or hormone-like molecules produced by immune cells in the body that can regulate the immune response. When overproduced, cytokines can accelerate inflammation and have serious consequences.

While the names of scientists such as EN-RAGE, TNFSF14 and Oncostatin M are not so meaningful to the average reader, researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine have collaborated with other researchers in Atlanta and Hong Kong to study these. I believe that certain molecules help to illuminate accurately what happens to the body’s immune system when fighting COVID-19

“One of the big mysteries of COVID-19 infection is that some people develop severe illness, while others recover quickly.” Now, some insight into why that happens. I got it.”

Researchers have found higher levels of these molecules in the blood of highly sick patients. Scientists are now working to block the activity of these molecules, hoping to help highly ill patients whose immune system is overreacting to the virus.

Research published in journals Science On Tuesday, we examined immune system responses in 76 COVID-19 patients and 69 non-infected individuals from the Princess Margaret Hospital at the University of Hong Kong and the Hope Clinic at Emory University in Atlanta.

When an infection such as COVID-19 occurs, the body’s innate immune system produces cytokines that help the body fight the virus. Too many cytokines produced can cause the immune system to malfunction and begin to attack the body, causing life-threatening symptoms.

In the Stanford study, three specific molecules found at high levels in the most severely ill patients have not previously been identified in COVID-19 patients. Researchers are currently testing therapeutic agents that target these molecules as targeted therapeutic agents. One drug that blocks the activity of the TNFSF14 molecule, also called LIGHT, is expected to reduce inflammation. Similar to the anti-inflammatory steroid dexamethasone, Welcomed to improve the outcome of highly sick coronavirus patients, However, it is more targeted and may be more effective against one of the most abundantly produced molecules in these patients.

Plendran and other Stanford researchers are conducting a study to test the drug in hamsters in September. If successful, test with non-human primates, then people.

The study also found high levels of bacterial debris in the blood of highly sick COVID-19 patients. The study authors believe that they migrate from the lungs and intestines into the bloodstream, indicating a widespread effect of infection. Scientists suspect that debris contributes to the overproduction of molecules found in highly ill patients. They hope another study on disease progression will become more apparent.

The authors of this study have discovered something else surprising. The innate immune system in the blood was suppressed, even though the lungs of highly ill patients had severe inflammation. Researchers want to investigate what this means for recovery of COVID-19 patients, for example, their susceptibility to blood infections.

Researchers know more about what happens in the body’s immune system when someone becomes ill with COVID-19, but it’s still unclear what causes the reaction .. People with health conditions such as diabetes are more likely to get worse results, but how those risk factors affect someone’s immune system status has not been fully scientifically studied. He added that the study did not have a sufficiently wide sample to assess impacts.

Pulendran and colleagues work with Emory researchers to enroll hundreds of frontline health workers without COVID-19 in a baseline study that collects blood samples every two weeks. If participants become infected, researchers will investigate whether there is any difference in the immune system of those patients who may have been more likely to develop more serious illnesses.

This study helps to reveal the sometimes puzzling experiences of tens of thousands of people in the virus-infected Bay Area. This includes the Sunnyvale family, all of whom have acquired COVID-19 for a bunch of symptoms.

Connie Lares Ruspini, a medical interpreter at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, spent his birthday on April 7th checking his family’s temperature and oxygen levels and hearing his lungs. A 16-year-old daughter, Natalia (16 years old), became tired, sore in her body that she had difficulty breathing. Her husband Diego was coughing, fevering and vomiting. Rusini himself had a pain in his joints and a slight fever, and lost his appetite. Both couples had diarrhea. Her 12-year-old son, Santiago (12 years old), had no symptoms.

A nanny from a family with a history of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc. fell to dangerously low oxygen levels and received intensive care for about 10 days. Diego, who has asthma, also spent a week on oxygen in the hospital.

The whole family tested negative during the first week of May. The nanny received oxygen at home for six weeks after being hospitalized, and dyspnea continues, Ruspini said. Occasionally, Diego is still tired and has pressure on his chest. In contrast, the fully recovered Ruspini hiked Mount Whitney on August 3.

“It was terrifying for this family,” Ruspini said. “I want people to take this seriously…because it can be catastrophic. We are lucky. Despite having a housekeeping incident and being ill, everyone has done it. It was.”