New research finally reveals the strangest side effects of coronavirus – BGR

• Researchers have discovered one of the strangest side effects of the new coronavirus. Pathogens block proteins involved in pain signaling and act effectively as analgesics.
• The spike protein that the virus uses to infect cells can also bind to a protein called neuropyrin-1, which mediates pain. This process explains why some COVID-19 patients do not feel pain while fighting the disease.
• This study has significant implications for the future of analgesics and will help researchers fight another health crisis, the opioid crisis.

The new coronavirus may not have its own mind, but the pathogen does appear to behave as if it were planning a well-tuned attack on the human body.The study was a few months ago when the virus You can block the local production of interferonDeprives cells of the ability to delay infection until more enhancements from the immune system can come to rescue. In subsequent further research, Interferon imbalance Otherwise it may kill a perfectly healthy person. Genetic problems associated with interferon that are not detected due to asymptomatic symptoms can surface from COVID-19 infection and cause serious problems.

It turns out that the virus does more than just confuse interferon. New research shows yet another sneaky ability of the virus to explain why so many people are asymptomatic. Even more interesting is that this discovery may actually have incredible benefits. It can help researchers develop solutions to the ongoing opioid crisis, which kills so many lives each year.

Pain is a clever defense mechanism of the human body. It may be annoying, but pain presents some imminent danger that requires your attention. Whether it’s an external problem that’s hurt your body or the pain is coming from inside you, it warns your brain that something is wrong with the mechanism of pain and you need to take action. To do.

COVID-19 infections include pain as one of their symptoms. Whether it’s a headache or a muscle soreness, it’s still a painful version telling you something is wrong. However, it has been found that the same SARS-CoV-2 component used to infect cells can also bind to important proteins that are part of the pain signaling process. It is the viral spike protein that scientists are desperately trying to neutralize with vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and other antiviral drugs.

The University of Arizona Health Sciences Researcher pain magazine (((via NeuroScienceNews) Explain how the virus interferes with the path of pain.

“It makes a lot of sense to me that the reason why COVID-19 has spread mercilessly is that in the early stages, the pain is suppressed and I’m walking around as if nothing were wrong,” he said. ..Rajesh Khanna said NeuroScienceNews.. “It makes a lot of sense to me that the reason why COVID-19 is relentlessly widespread is that in the early stages, the pain is suppressed and we are walking around as if nothing were wrong. I will. “

Researchers noted a previous study that stated that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein could bind neuropilin-1 in addition to the ACE2 receptor that spikes use to infect cells.

“For the past 15 years, it caught our eye because my lab has been studying proteins and pathway complexes that are associated with pain treatment downstream of neuropilin,” Kanna said. .. “So we took a step back and realized that this could probably mean that the spike protein was involved in some pain treatment.”

Scientists have noticed that spike proteins interact with specific pain pathways. A protein named Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-A (VEGF-A) is linked to neuropilin-1 and eventually develops pain symptoms in the process. However, when SARS-CoV-2 blocks the neuropilin-1 receptor, it usually blocks a series of pain-causing events.

Scientists have conducted experiments showing that the spike protein binds to neuropilin-1 at the same location as VEGF-A. In their experiment, VEGF-A was used to induce excitability of rodent neurons, which caused pain. Next, we added the SARS-CoV-2 protein. “Spike proteins have completely reversed VEGF-induced pain signaling,” said Dr. Khana. “It didn’t matter if you used a very high dose of spikes or a very low dose. It completely reversed the pain.”

Like other COVID-19 studies, the University of Arizona study can certainly benefit from additional studies. However, if these conclusions are accurate, you may finally find out why some people do not have painful symptoms when fighting COVID-19 infection.

More interestingly, this COVID-19 conclusion may lead to new discoveries to relieve the pain of other chronically painful illnesses. Researchers are planning to design small molecules that can block neuropilin, “natural compounds that are especially important for pain relief.” “We have a pandemic and there is an opioid epidemic. They are in conflict. Our findings have a huge impact on both. SARS-CoV-2 tells us about the spread of the virus. Yes, COVID-19 is also considering neuropyrin as a new non-opioid method to combat the opioid epidemic. “

Chris Smith began writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he knew it he shared his views on the technical stuff with readers around the world. Whenever he doesn’t write about gadgets, he tries desperately, but miserably fails to get away from them. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.