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The coronavirus continues move. After the English variant, the scientists discuss Italian variant. One step away from the defeat, thanks to the vaccine, of the Covid pandemic that has brought even the world’s greatest powers to their knees, the virus may have found new weapons to replicate and infect the cells of our body more efficiently. The discovery of the Italian variant of the coronavirus was announced Arnaldo Caruso, President of the Italian Society of Virology (Siv-Isv), Full Professor of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology at the University of Brescia and Director of the Microbiology Laboratory of Asst Spedali Civili.
“It has been circulating in Italy since the beginning of August,” he explained to Adnkronos Salute, and is “very similar to the infamous English variant.” The Italian variant was discovered in Brescia and “precedes the variant that emerged only at the end of September in the United Kingdom and then spread to Europe, including Italy.” The Italian variant “could also be a precursor.”
Covid, the Italian variant has the Spike protein mutated in two places
It is necessary to remember that this is not the first mutation that occurs and is discovered in Italy, although it differs from the others by some characteristics of the protein spike, which constitutes the crown from which the virus takes its name and which serves Sars-Cov-2 to attack human cells.
The mutation discovered in Brescia “has several mutation points in the protein Spike, the hook that the coronavirus uses to attack the receptor present in the target cells of our body. Like the English, the Italian variant also has a mutation in a nerve center of the interaction between the Spike protein and the cellular receptor, more precisely in position 501“.
Unlike the English, “the Italian variant also has a second mutation in position 493, which makes its Spike protein slightly different from that of the pandemic virus that we all know today, ”said Arnaldo Caruso.
Covid, how the Italian variant was discovered in Brescia
The discovery took place “by chance, highlighting the abnormal viral persistence in a patient who suffered from Covid-19 in April. Even after healing, swabs made from August had always been positive for the AD virus high load“.
“In November we decided sequence the virus to understand the reason for this persistence, and to our surprise we realized that we had identified a new variant, similar but not identical to the English variant that was also beginning to circulate in Italy. At this point we also sequenced a sample from the same patient obtained in August “, discovering that” the spike protein was already present then, with all its mutations, “said the doctor.
Covid, the Italian variant arose before the English variant
“We do not know if the English variant emerged exactly at the end of September, as well as ours in early September. August. A temporal analysis of the Sars-CoV-2 sequences, carried out by Massimo Ciccozzi’s group ”, from the Bio-Medico Campus of the University of Rome,“ tells us that this new Italian variant could have been generated at the beginning of July ”.
“What we can affirm from the studies” by the epidemiologist’s team is that ours is undoubtedly the prior to evidence of mutations in the Spike protein at the level of position 501 in Italy and perhaps, at least to date, in Europe. The sequence homology between the variant that we have identified and the English one leads us to think that the former may have in fact generated the others that are emerging today on our continent. But to affirm this it is necessary to reconstruct the steps, and not many analyzes of the viral genome are yet available ”.
Therefore, the Italian variant given origin to the English variant, and so far it would be the most important mutation of the Spike protein discovered by the experts. Despite this, there should be no problems for the vaccination campaign.
Italian variant of the coronavirus: what changes for the vaccine
“The vaccine generates a complex response to many areas of the Spike protein. Even if there were some antibodies that could not recognize a mutated area like that at position 501 or 493, there would certainly be others capable of binding to non-mutated portions of the protein. Their binding would be enough to prevent the interaction between Spike and the cell receptor, if only because of a kind of steric obstacle that the antibodies would create on the surface of the virus. In a short time, however, we will have a certain answer ”, explained Arnaldo Caruso about the effectiveness of the vaccine on the variant.
“The high viral load present in the August and November swabs allowed us to isolate the viral mutants in Brescia. This will allow us to test these viruses with the sera of Covid-19 patients obtained during the first pandemic wave, and to evaluate the capacity of the antibodies to neutralize this variant with respect to previously circulating viral strains. As soon as they are available, they will also be similarly evaluated. serums of vaccinated patients. I stay for the moment optimistic“, Continued the president of the Italian virologists.
Coronavirus, in Italy a team of scientists will study the Italian variant
“Together with many colleagues who use molecular systems, we will try to establish a consortium on the UK model, so in Italy we started a viral sequencing activity that is crucial to prevent the spread of Sars-CoV-2 variants that are increasingly fearsome to our health and possibly capable of nullifying the effectiveness of medications and vaccines, “he explained.
“This model will also be useful to treat future events Epidemics and pandemics are not necessarily limited to Sars-CoV-2 only. I hope that many colleagues will join this initiative and that it will find valid support and consensus from a government that is now more attentive and prepared to respond to this important need ”, concluded Arnaldo Caruso.
Covid, Bassetti: “Exaggerated noise for English variant”
Other experts have expressed their opinion on the Italian variant. Matteo Bassetti, director of the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the Hospital San Martino in Genoa, stated: “There has been a lot of exaggerated noise about the English variance, but as we have seen, each country has isolated variants that are later compatible with what happens to viruses that mutate. The isolate in Brescia could partially justify and make clear why we had it in October and November, especially in Lombardy, thus Many almost with a very easy spread of the coronavirus in specific areas “.
Covid, Pregliasco: “The Italian variant is not surprising, unstable virus”
“This Italian study is interesting, which suggests that, who knows, the English variant may not even have been born in England, but in the UK they only managed to identify it first,” hypothesized Fabrizio Pregliasco, a virologist at the University of Milan. “Studying the variants is important, and these studies of considerable value to the technical capacity of colleagues show that we must go in this direction quickly to also verify the effectiveness of the vaccine. Parallel to this knowledge, these second-level investigations are absolutely necessary ”, he explained.
“We know that RNA viruses like the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus change. The flu virus also has a similar constitution. It reverses the impossibility of replicating itself the same by making sure to place variants in the environment that allow the predominance of advantageous elements “for their reproduction.” We know that there have been many mutations, more than 12 thousand between small variations and more significant ones “.
It is important to investigate the effectiveness of the vaccine in the Italian variant, emphasized Fabrizio Pregliasco. “It is an aspect that must be investigated, it would be the confirmation that the antibodies, being directed towards various parts” of the Spike protein “give protection even if someone does not find their target. These viruses are unstable, we are not surprised. However, it is essential to continue conducting research of this type ”.
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