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Gelatin in the lungs may explain why people infected with COVID-19 have severe lung weight and in some cases die.
The Swedish researchers’ discovery could be treated with existing drugs.
– I believe in this, I have to admit it. Otherwise, we would not have conducted this study, says Anders Blomberg, professor and chief physician at Umeå University.
In COVID-19 patients who have died as a result of the weight of the lungs, in some cases the lungs have been examined filled with a clear jelly.
Anders Blomberg, professor of pulmonary medicine and chief physician at Umeå University, can now show which substance contributes to the formation of gelatin in the lungs. The substance is called hyaluronan, and hyaluronan molecules are already known to increase greatly under inflammatory conditions.
The discovery is based on the analyzed material from the autopsy of three patients who died in covid-19. The researchers managed to stain the gel transparent and thus show that it consisted of hyaluronan.
“Drowning from within”
– This may be an explanation of why the weight of the lung increases. The hyaluronan molecule has an enormous capacity to bind to water. If it is formed in an unstoppable quantity, the lungs will fill with water. You drown, so to speak, from within, says Anders Blomberg.
Having discovered what may be a contributing cause of respiratory failure, it opens the door to long-term treatments, he says.
– Currently there is no registered drug for lung weight in covid. But there are different models that you can imagine.
Photograph: Staffan Löwstedt / TT
Patient in the intensive care unit of Södertälje hospital.
Photo: UMEÅ UNIVERSITY
Anders Blomberg.
Anders Blomberg lists three possible treatments, with currently existing substances, that could be used after further studies.
– On the one hand, we know that cortisone has a positive effect on severe covid and cortisone reduces the production of hyaluronan, we already know that.
– Then there are purely theoretical possibilities that you can inhale an enzyme that breaks down the hyaluronan into smaller components and thus dissolves the gel. We don’t know, because it hasn’t been tested in humans. But theoretically it could work.
Hyaluronan is made from grape sugar that is broken down in the body. Therefore, the production of the molecule can be prevented with a drug called 4MU. It exists today, but not for covid, according to Anders Blomberg.
– It is a theoretical possibility that may have some effect.
“I believe in this”
Now you want to go ahead with more testing to see if the discovered connection is true for more people.
– It can provide possible treatment for seriously ill patients. If you can confirm this, I think you should be able to go to the Medical Products Agency and ask if we should have this as a possible treatment for severe covid-19 lung weight. That’s the idea, says Anders Blomberg, adding:
– I believe in this, I have to admit it. Otherwise, we would not have conducted this study. But we need more on our feet to confirm it.
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