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SARS-CoV-2, better known simply as the “ novel coronavirus, ” is just one of the few related RNA viruses that cause respiratory illnesses of varying severity in humans and some animals.
Infections from other coronaviruses help the human immune system fight SARS CoV-2. This is the conclusion of a group of researchers from Northern Arizona University (NAU) and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), a local non-profit organization.
In their research, the scientists used a bespoke tool created by NAU and TGen called “PepSeq” to “finely map antibody responses to all coronaviruses infecting humans,” ranging from simple ones that do not cause more severe symptoms than those with a cold. , the most serious and potentially fatal.
What they found was that exposure to previous coronaviruses appeared to improve the ability of the human immune system to fight off the new one, with the introduction of the new virus into the body invoking antibodies that were originally created to fight the new virus. other viruses.
“Our results suggest that the COVID-19 virus may arouse an antibody response that existed in humans before our current pandemic, which means that we may already have some degree of pre-existing immunity against this virus,” explained the co -author of the study, Dr. John Altin. in a press release about the study, which was published in Cell Reports Medicine, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
Before the new coronavirus, humanity is known to have been introduced to at least a half-dozen other types of coronavirus.
Therefore, with SARS-CoV-2, scientists studied the responses of anti-coronavirus antibodies to two other dangerous coronaviruses that recently threatened the world – MERS-CoV, which led to a localized epidemic in Saudi Arabia in 2012, and SARS-CoV-1 – which saw an outbreak in Asia in 2003.
Four older, less dangerous and much more prevalent coronaviruses – alphacoronavirus 229E, alphacoronavirus NL63, betacoronavirus OC43, and betacoronavirus HKU1 were also studied. Mankind has developed high levels of immunity to these viruses, their symptoms usually not being more severe than those of the common cold, causing mild upper respiratory tract infections.
The results can be extremely important in giving scientists the knowledge to create new diagnostic tools, study the impact of using convalescent plasma as a therapy for Covid-19, and even design new vaccines and therapies. by antibodies capable of fighting mutations in the new coronavirus.
“Our results highlight sites where the SARS-CoV-2 response appears to be shaped by prior exposures to coronaviruses, and which have the potential to generate broadly neutralizing antibodies. We further demonstrate that these cross-reactive antibodies preferentially bind to endemic coronavirus peptides. [short chains of amino acids], suggesting that the response to SARS-CoV-2 in these regions may be limited by previous exposure to the coronavirus, ”Altin said.
Scientists say more studies will be needed. Research could, for example, help explain the general way in which Covid-19 manifests itself, with some people showing only mild symptoms or even crossing the virus completely asymptomatically, while others face severe symptoms or even succumb to complications associated with the disease. .
“Our results raise the possibility that the nature of an individual’s antibody response to a previous endemic coronavirus infection may impact the course of COVID-19 disease,” said Dr. Jason Ladner, lead author of study.
The research also included the participation of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and a number of other hospitals and research institutes.
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