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This important study can help develop new drugs or adapt existing ones to increase patients’ chances of survival.
To explain why some people with the new coronavirus develop severe pneumonia, researchers have analyzed genetic mutations in more than 2,000 critically ill patients in the UK.
They compared these data with the characteristics of the genes in the control group and identified up to eight more specific DNA sequences from the COVID-19 patients.
The researchers found that these sequences were related to the body’s response to the inflammatory process and the immune system’s responses to pathogens, including the new coronavirus.
Further computer analysis focused on two specific genes that encode proteins involved in the inflammatory process, TYK2 and CCR2.
People who make more of the TYK2 enzyme have been found to be more likely to develop a severe coronavirus infection.
“We are trying to unravel the extremely complex human immune system to find the levers that we can push to change. [ligos] said Kenneth Baillie, a geneticist at the University of Edinburgh and lead author of a paper in the journal Nature.
“The beauty of genetics is that it can predict the potential effects of a drug. What is really interesting about this study is that we found genes that are directly related therapeutically, so they lead us directly to treatment. [metodų]”He explained.
Mr. Baillie said that there were already drugs on the market that limited the effects of TYK2. So-called JAK inhibitors are often used to treat chronic diseases such as cancer or arthritis.
“We have shown that people who produce more TYK2 are at higher risk for COVID. And there is a drug that suppresses it, “the geneticist told reporters on video.
The study authors noted that clinical trials of antibody therapy that block the protein involved in the immune response, CCR2, are currently underway.
The researchers noted that large-scale trials are needed to see if the potential treatment they discovered is effective in patients with severe COVID-19.
Mark Caulfield, chief scientist at Genomics England, who heads the Center for Biomedical Research at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), called the study “excellent” on Friday.
He said the study of patient genomes by the study authors could help create a “complete catalog of genes that change our susceptibility to COVID.”
“And maybe, at the same time, we will find a new treatment that helps people cope better,” added Caulfield.
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