[ad_1]
A team of researchers discovered that two types of cells had high levels of input proteins that COVID-19 uses to enter the human body.
According to specialists, the identification of these cells could explain the high transmission rate of this virus, writes agerpres.ro.
Additionally, research has shown that cells in the eyes and some organs also contain viral penetrating proteins.
According to previous studies, samples taken with special swabs from the nose of patients with COVID-19, symptomatic or asymptomatic, had higher viral concentrations compared to those taken from the throat.
The scientists said their results could have implications for the treatment and prevention of the disease in the future.
Symptoms of coronavirus infection
COVID-19, which has killed more than 180,000 lives worldwide, affects the lungs and airways.
Symptoms can be similar to those of the flu, such as fever, cough, and sore throat, while some people may have no symptoms but can transmit the virus.
In the worst cases, the virus causes pneumonia, which can lead to death.
How COVID-19 Spreads
The virus is believed to spread through the eliminated respiratory drops when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or speaks.
Scientists around the world are trying to understand exactly how the virus spreads to help prevent the transmission and development of a vaccine.
Dr. Waradon Sungnak, lead author of the study at the Wellcome Sanger Institute: “We found that the ACE2 receptor protein and TMPRSS2 protease that can activate SARS-CoV-2 entry are expressed in cells of various organs, including cells of the inner lining of the nose. We then discovered that mucus-secreting cells and nasal hair cells had the highest levels of both viral proteins COVID-19 of all airway cells, making them the initial route most likely infection for this virus. “
Read and doctors warn: young people can suffer strokes due to coronavirus infection
“This is the first time that these nasal cells have been associated with COVID-19. Although there are many factors that contribute to virus transmissibility, our findings are consistent with the rapid virus infection rates observed to date.” on the inner surface of the nose, it makes them very accessible to the virus and can also contribute to transmission to other people, “says Dr. Martijn Nawijn of the Medical Center at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
The research was carried out by the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the Groningen University Medical Center, the University of the French Riviera and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and their collaborators, within the Human Cell Atlas of the Lung Biological Network.
Reported in Nature Medicine, the analysis is part of an international approach that attempts to use data from the Human Cell Atlas to understand infection and disease.
To find out which cells may be involved in coronavirus transmission, the researchers analyzed several Human Cell Atlas data sets from more than twenty different tissues from uninfected people. They tried to find out which individual cells expressed so much of the essential input proteins that COVID-19 uses to infect human cells.
Also read CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. WHO cautions: The sun does not destroy the virus, but it can harm our health.
[ad_2]
