[ad_1]
The study, published in the journal Nature and cited by the BBC, was carried out in more than 200 Intensive Care Units in the UK and involved the analysis of the genes of each patient in serious condition. The genome of intensive care patients was then compared with DNA extracted from healthy individuals. The comparison showed several differences in genes.
Gena TYK2 part of the system responsible is the “angry” inflammatory reaction of immune cells. If this gene malfunctions, it can cause an overreaction that exposes the patient to the risk of harmful inflammation of the lungs..
Anti-inflammatory baricitinib, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, candidate for anti-COVID treatment
There is a class of anti-inflammatory substances in the current medical inventory for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and whose objective is to attenuate the inflammatory over-response described above. This category also includes the drug Baricitinib, considered by the genetic study authors as a plausible candidate for future treatment in severe cases of COVID-19 infection.
Until then, large-scale clinical trials will be needed to confirm its effectiveness or not.
TYK2 it is not the only gene highlighted by the study published by Nature.
DPP9, which also plays a role in the inflammatory process, and OAS, which stops the replication process of the coronavirus, are two other genes highlighted by the comparison between the genetic material collected from patients in serious condition and that extracted from healthy people.
Low Interferon Levels Associated With Severe COVID-19 Infection
Genetic differences were also detected IFNAR2, which is linked to a powerful molecule called interferon, which helps activate the immune system as soon as an infection is detected.
It is believed that the low production of interferon can give the virus an early advantage, allowing it to multiply rapidly, leading to a more severe form of the disease.
The mechanism that involves interferon has been mentioned in two other recently published studies that analyzed the effects of a low level of this molecule, due to genetic mutations and autoimmune diseases.
Professor Jean-Laurent Casanova, from Rockefeller University in New York, said: “Interferon was accounted for in nearly 15% of critical international COVID-19 patients in our group.”
Interferon can be used as a treatment, but a World Health Organization clinical study has concluded that it is not helpful in very sick patients.
However, Professor Casanova believes that early administration, in the first two, three or four days after infection, will give results, because it will ensure in the critical interval the molecule that cannot be synthesized by the affected organism.
[ad_2]
