New discovery could explain why some coronavirus patients die – BGR

• Researchers studying the immune responses of coronavirus patients may finally be able to explain why some people are at risk of developing life-threatening complications from COVID-19.
• The COVID Human Genetic Effort detailed a pair of groundbreaking findings on interferon issues that could put lives at risk during COVID-19.
• Scientists have found that some people have autoantibodies against interferon, while others may suffer from previously undiagnosed genetic conditions that impact the functionality of interferon.

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Whether it’s the novel coronavirus or another infectious disease that can lead to life-threatening complications, vaccines are only part of the solution. The biggest news of the week was the incredible announcement from Pfizer and BioNTech that their drug has so far been shown to be over 90% effective against the pathogen. Final results from the Phase 3 trial may vary and that efficacy figure might end up being lower, but it’s obviously a great place to start.

Preventing infections and severe cases of COVID-19 will not be enough as long as thousands of people continue to die from complications around the world. It will take time for vaccines to meet demand, and more people will be infected in the meantime. The world still needs effective therapies that can further reduce the risk of death until a large percentage of the world’s population is vaccinated and the risk of transmission is dramatically reduced. Two studies may have just delivered the groundbreaking discovery of the coronavirus that could allow doctors to do just that, preventing more COVID-19 deaths in the months to come while waiting for vaccines and other effective treatments.

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Doctors explained in mid-May that the coronavirus does something incredibly sneaky by infecting cells: it blocks local production of interferon and delays the immune response, allowing the virus to replicate and infect more people. cells without control. That’s why so many teams have started interferon-based trials, believing that treating COVID-19 with interferon could prevent serious illness. A World Health Organization study failed to show that interferon can prevent death. But several developments could allow doctors to refine interferon therapy and test it further.

It all started at the end of September when two studies described a key interferon-related phenomenon that may increase the risk of death in patients with COVID-19, including younger men. Genetic issues affecting interferon that go undetected until a diagnosis of COVID-19 can worsen the prognosis. These studies indicated that looking for hidden interferon imbalances would allow doctors to determine which COVID-19 patients are at risk of developing serious complications.

This brings us to a pair of larger studies which NBC News just highlighted, which provide additional details on interferon issues that could lead to complications.

An international team of researchers published a study in Science this indicates that 10% of the 987 patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 had antibodies that deactivated interferon. These are known as autoantibodies and can show up in autoimmune diseases or medical conditions where the body attacks itself. Of the patients who had autoantibodies, 94% were men.

The study comes from the COVID Human Genetic Effort, which includes 200 research centers in 40 countries. It’s much larger than the September studies.

Interferon autoantibodies were absent in a group of 663 asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. The researchers said that only 4 of the 1,227 healthy people in the control group had the same autoantibodies. If the data is correct, doctors treating patients with COVID-19 may soon begin testing interferon autoantibodies to detect potential severe cases as early as possible.

People who have autoantibodies against interferon have always had them. It is not a byproduct of coronavirus infection. It is not known why other infectious diseases like the flu have not brought these interferon problems to light in the past.

“This is one of the most important things we have learned about the immune system since the start of the pandemic,” said Scripps Research vice president Dr Eric Topol. NBC. Topol was not involved in the studies.

This is not the only interferon problem identified by the COVID Human Genetic Effort group. He is also the author of a second study which found that 3.5% of critically ill patients had mutations in the genes controlling interferon. The body has 500 to 600 of these genes, with Dr. Qian Zhang claiming they could identify more mutations. Zhang was the lead author of the second study. The finding may also explain why men of all ages might be more affected by interferon problems than women.

“Interferons are like a fire alarm and sprinkler system all in one,” virologist Angela Rasmussen told NBC. Rasmussen did not participate in any of the studies. If the virus can suppress the activity of interferon, people who might have a genetic disease from interferon might have a higher risk of developing serious illness.

“Your body should have alarms ringing everywhere,” when the coronavirus arrives, Zhang said. “If you don’t sound the alarm, you could have viruses all over the place in droves.”

Testing for interferon autoantibodies may become the standard for managing COVID-19, but scientists will need more data. NBC notes that there are more than 100 clinical trials involving interferon and coronavirus, according to Clinicaltrials.gov. New interferon-based therapies may soon emerge from trials. British doctors have just published a study in The Lancet saying that an inhaled version of interferon beta-1a has benefited patients with COVID-19. Randomly assigned people who received the drug were twice as likely to make a full recovery. This is Synairgen’s promising drug SNG001 which was first detailed in mid-July.