Why do some have such a difficult course?
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Even if the pandemic has been with us for many months, there are still unanswered questions about that Coronavirus. One of them is why exactly the Covid-19 disease caused by the virus is so severe in some of the infected that it can even lead to death. Researchers may now have found a new answer to this.
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What is an immune thrombosis?
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A team from the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) believes that the immune system could play a role in whether the disease is severe. The researchers examined Covid-19 patients who had to be treated in the intensive care unit and found that they had a higher number of certain immune cells, the neutrophils. So the coronavirus seems to activate this type of white blood cell a lot.
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According to the researchers working with Moritz Leppkes, this should cause net-like structures to form in the blood vessels. Actually, these nets (NET, for Neutrophil Extracellular Traps) will catch intruders such as bacteria and viruses so that they can be targeted. In the case of Covid-19, however, the nets could more often clog the fine blood vessels of the lungs. They then take care – similar to one Thrombosis – for the fact that the body is no longer adequately supplied with oxygen. That is why the researchers speak of an immune thrombosis in the study published in the specialist journal “EBioMedicine by The Lancet”.
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This thrombosis has not been considered in the previous treatment of severe Covid 19 cases. But as the “Ärzteblatt” reports, the researchers’ findings could have an impact on future therapy: “The researchers see a treatment approach for severe COVID-19 cases in inhibiting the aggregation of neutrophils and the increased formation of NETs prevent.” The drugs dexamethasone or heparin, for example, could help. “Heparin is already being used in COVID-19 patients to prevent thrombosis. However, it is possible that the standard dose is not sufficient to prevent thrombosis by the NET.”
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