A study by French researchers shows that the deficiency in the blood of a protein normally produced by the immune system “could be the hallmark of severe forms of Covid-19”, a finding that could help identify patients at risk.
“The type 1 interferon deficiency in the blood could be a signature of severe forms of Covid-19”, concludes this study, published this week in the American journal Science. Interferons are proteins of the cytokine family produced in particular by cells of the immune system in response to the presence of an infection. About 5% of people with Covid-19 progress to a severe or critical form, with severe pneumonia developing into acute respiratory distress syndrome, often occurring 9 to 12 days after the onset of mild to moderate first symptoms.
The researchers believe that this worsening is caused by a sharp increase in cytokines, which causes the body’s “inflammatory response” to skyrocket. But doctors do not know exactly which patients will develop this serious form of the disease, beyond the risk factors observed (diabetes, obesity, advanced age, etc.). However, this is “an essential question (…) to improve the individual care and prognosis of these patients”, observed Thursday in a press release from Inserm, the University of Paris, the Imagine Institute, the ‘Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) and the Institut Pasteur.
The authors of the study, from these organizations, performed analyzes on 50 patients with Covid-19, with different degrees of severity.
It appears that in seriously ill patients, “the production and activity of type 1 interferons are greatly reduced”. They also present “a persistent blood viral load, testifying to the poor control of viral replication by the immune system of patients and leading to the runaway of an ineffective and pathological inflammatory response”.
The study also reveals that “low levels of type 1 interferons in plasma precede clinical worsening of patients and their transfer to intensive care”. Therefore, type 1 interferon deficiency “could be a signature of severe forms of Covid-19 and could identify a high-risk population”.
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