New biomarker could lead to new clinical lab tests and long-term COVID-19 treatments
Researchers studying long-term COVID-19 at the University Hospital Zurich (UZH) and the Swiss Institute for Bioinformatics (SIB) in Switzerland have discovered a protein biomarker in the blood that indicates a component of the body’s innate immune system (called the complement system) Still active in some diseases. Scientists hope further research could provide clinical laboratories with a definitive test for long-lasting COVID-19 and pharmaceutical companies with a way to develop treatments.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, some people around the world have continued to experience lingering symptoms even after the acute phase of the disease has passed. Long-term COVID-19 patients can develop symptoms weeks or even months after the initial viral infection resolves. Long-term COVID-19 infection can be difficult to diagnose because the symptoms can resemble other illnesses.
This new biomarker could lead to new clinical laboratory diagnostic blood tests for long COVID-19 and a better understanding of why long COVID-19 affects some patients and not others.
Swiss scientists publish their findings in journal science The title is “Persistent complement dysregulation with signs of thromboinflammation in active long-term COVID-19”.
Those long Covid patients were once like you and me, completely integrated [into] Social, infectious disease specialist with work, social and private life Michel van Vugt, MD (pictured above), senior researcher and professor Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development (AGHD), told Medical News Today. Some of them lost everything due to extreme fatigue after contracting the coronavirus.This happens not just to one patient but to many [a] psychological reasons. Even after the acute illness has passed, clinical laboratories continue to test patients with COVID-19 symptoms. (Photo copyright: AIGHD.)
The role of the complement system
To complete their study, Swiss scientists monitored 113 patients who had confirmed COVID-19 through reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) testing. The study also included 39 uninfected healthy control patients.
The researchers examined 6,596 proteins in 268 blood samples collected while patients were in the acute phase of the virus and again six months after infection. They found that 40 patients with COVID-19 eventually developed symptoms of long COVID. All 40 patients had a group of proteins in their blood that showed their immune systems’ complement system remained elevated even after recovering from the virus.
Amesh Adalja, MD, adjunct assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, tells us that complement is a branch of the immune system that complements the roles of other branches. preventionThe activities it performs range from literally attacking the cell membrane of the pathogen to summoning other cells of the immune system to the site of infection.
In addition to helping the body heal from injury and disease, the complement immune system activates inflammation in the body, and if the complement system is activated for too long, patients are at risk for autoimmune and other inflammatory diseases.
This inflammation may cause patients to develop microthromboses.These can block blood vessels and cause damage that can lead to premature cardiac events, dementia, respiratory failure and kidney failure, infectious disease expert Thomas Russo, MD, distinguished professor in the Department of Medicine at SUNY Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, told prevention.
brain fog
To make matters worse for patients who have been infected with the new coronavirus for a long time, a recent publication in ” Nature Neuroscience The study, titled “Blood-brain barrier disruption and persistent systemic inflammation in individuals with long-term COVID-related cognitive impairment,” found that nearly 50% of people with long-term COVID-19 also experience a condition called brain fog (aka mental fog). fog or confusion).
The study, conducted by genetic scientists at Trinity College Dublin and St. James’s Hospital, Dublin, Ireland, analyzed blood samples, serum and plasma from 76 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in March or April 2020, as well as 25 previously collected Patient’s blood sample.Researchers found that people who said they suffered from brain fog had higher levels of a protein called S100 in their blood [a calcium-binding protein] Compared to people without brain fog. prevention the report said.
S100 is produced by cells in the brain and is not normally found in the blood. Researchers say this suggests a malfunction in the patient’s blood-brain barrier, which prevents certain substances from entering the brain and spinal cord. prevention the report said.
The scientists then used the dye to perform MRI scans on 22 people with long-term COVID-19 infection (11 of whom reported brain fog) and 10 people who had recovered from COVID-19. They found that long-term COVID-19 patients with brain fog had signs of leakage in the blood-brain barrier. prevention famous.
Dr Matthew Campbell, Professor and Head of the Department of Genetics at Trinity College Dublin, told us that this leakage could alter the delicate balance of substances entering and leaving the brain, thereby disrupting the integrity of neurons in the brain. prevention.
Interactions with other viruses
according to Medical News TodayThe Swiss findings also suggest that long-term COVID-19 symptoms may occur due to the reactivation of previous herpes virus infections. Patients in the study showed increased antibodies against cytomegalovirus, a virus that affects half of Americans by age 40.
Links between long-term COVID-19 and other viruses may hold the key to developing treatments for people with both diseases.Antiviral treatment for herpes virus may also help treat long-term COVID-19 symptoms Medical News Today.
Thomas Russo, MD, professor and director of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo in New York, said that millions of people around the world who have been infected with the new coronavirus for a long time may be infected with the new coronavirus. prevention. This will be the next major phase of this pandemic. If we don’t learn to diagnose and treat this problem, many people will develop complications that affect their lives long-term.
Like the COVID-19 coronavirus, long-term COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon. But both studies could lead to more effective clinical laboratory testing, diagnosis and treatment for the millions of people living with this debilitating disease.
Ashley Croce
relevant information:
New study finds potential cause of long-term COVID-19 symptoms, experts explain
Patients with long-term active COVID-19 have persistent complement imbalance and signs of thrombotic inflammation
CDC: Long-term COVID-19 or post-COVID-19 situation
The long COVID-19 pandemic: key findings, mechanisms and recommendations
Long explanation of coronavirus in new study could pave the way for tests, treatments
Scientists may have discovered why COVID-19 brain fog persists, and why it matters
Blood-brain barrier disruption and persistent systemic inflammation in patients with long-term COVID-19-related cognitive impairment
Could new clues about how long the coronavirus affects the immune system lead to treatments?
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