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New research from Oslo University Hospital and Vestre Viken shows that a reaction in our immune system may be the reason why some corona patients become seriously ill.
Therefore, they believe that drugs that reduce or block this system can help in the treatment of coronavirus.
– I think this may be a life-saving treatment for some corona patients, says Tom Eirik Mollnes, one of the researchers behind the study.
A large team of Norwegian researchers and senior physicians participated in the study, which was published today in the prestigious journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.” The research article was also published in the Expert Hospital.
Eva (49) developed coronary heart disease in April, still struggling with symptoms
– It is not the virus that kills
The complement system is the body’s defense system and must record if something foreign enters the body, such as a virus or bacteria.
But sometimes the system can overreact and can be life threatening.
– This is what we see in many patients with a crown. The body then creates inflammation in the lungs, and the patient can suffer from blood poisoning, Mollnes says.
Researchers have observed and sampled 39 patients with corona who have been hospitalized.
The tests confirmed that the complement system was much more activated in those patients who were seriously ill and had difficulty breathing.
PROFESSOR: Mollnes is professor and chief physician of the Department of Immunology and Transfusion Medicine (IMM). Photo: Øystein Horgmo
– It is not the virus that kills, it is the body’s reaction to the virus, says Mollnes, who has written the research article together with Søren Pischke, Jan Cato Holter and several other partners.
Effective medicine
Therefore, the researchers behind the study believe that using drugs that reduce or block activation in the complement system can have a great effect.
These are drugs that are available and approved in most countries for use in patients with certain rare diseases.
– It is an incredibly effective drug, with few side effects, says Mollnes.
60,000 cases of corona may have gone unnoticed
Clinical studies
Researchers believe they have laid the scientific foundation for complement inhibitor drugs to take effect.
The next step will be to start clinical trials in which the drugs are tested in patients with corona. Some studies are already underway.
– This knowledge about the mechanism of how covid-19 develops is much needed, as it can guide how new studies should be designed and drugs evaluated, and not least prevent useless clinical studies from being conducted, the researchers write in the report.
Several other countries have also started to investigate how the complement system is affected by the coronavirus and Mollnes has great faith that these drugs can become an important treatment method for seriously ill coronary patients.
