Tag Archive for: immune system

COVID 19 Can Trigger Self-Attacking Antibodies - کرونا و اتوآنتی بادی ها

Infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 can trigger an immune response that lasts well beyond the initial infection and recovery—even among people who had mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, according to Cedars-Sinai investigators. The findings are published in the Journal of Translational Medicine.

When people are infected with a virus or other pathogen, their bodies unleash proteins called antibodies that detect foreign substances and keep them from invading cells. In some cases, however, people produce autoantibodies that can attack the body’s own organs and tissues over time.

The Cedars-Sinai investigators found that people with prior infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have a wide variety of autoantibodies up to six months after they have fully recovered. Prior to this study, researchers knew that severe cases of COVID-19 can stress the immune system so much that autoantibodies are produced. This study is the first to report not only the presence of elevated autoantibodies after mild or asymptomatic infection, but their persistence over time.

Some of the autoantibodies have been linked to autoimmune diseases that typically affect women more often than men. In this study, however, men had a higher number of elevated autoantibodies than women.

Release date: 03 January 2022
Source: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Statins linked to reduced risk of death from COVID-19 in major population study - داروی ضدچربی و کرونا

Statins are a recommended and common intervention for preventing cardiovascular events by reducing levels of lipoprotein cholesterol in the blood. During the pandemic, it has been debated whether statins influence the risk of death from COVID-19. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now conducted the largest population study to date in the field. The study, which is published in PLOS Medicine, indicates that statin treatment slightly lowers COVID-19 mortality.

Statins are used to lower the cholesterol level – the lipid count – in the blood and are a common preventative treatment in patients at high risk of cardiovascular events.

During the pandemic, the question of whether statins can reduce COVID-19 mortality via their effects on coagulation and the immune system has engaged scientists and doctors.

Earlier studies have not provided an unequivocal answer and have often suffered from the limitation that they have only included hospital inpatients. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now carried out the largest population study to date on the relationship between statins and COVID-19 mortality.

Release date: 14 October 2021
Source: Karolinska Institutet

Differing immune reponses discovered in asymptomatic cases versus those with severe COVID19 - پاسخ متفاوت سیستم ایمنی به کرونا

Using data from the Human Cell Atlas, researchers have identified the differences in immune cells’ response in those who had no symptoms compared to severe symptoms.

The largest study of its type in the UK has identified differences in the immune response to COVID-19, between people with no symptoms, compared to those suffering a more serious reaction to the virus.

Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Newcastle University, University College London, University of Cambridge, EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and their collaborators within the Human Cell Atlas initiative, found raised levels of specific immune cells in asymptomatic people. They also showed people with more serious symptoms had lost these protective cell types, but gained inflammatory cells. These differences in the immune response could help explain serious lung inflammation and blood clotting symptoms, and could be used to identify potential targets for developing therapies.

The research, published in Nature Medicine, is one of the only studies to include people who were asymptomatic. This large-scale collaborative study is part of the Human Cell Atlas* initiative to map every cell type in the human body, to transform our understanding of health, infection and disease.

Release date: 20 April 2021
Source: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

COVID 19 severity affected by proportion of antibodies targeting crucial viral protein - سیستم ایمنی در موارد شدید کرونا به بخش دیگری از ویروس واکنش می دهد

A comprehensive study of immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 associates mild disease with comparatively high levels of antibodies that target the viral spike protein. But all antibodies wane within months.

COVID-19 antibodies preferentially target a different part of the virus in mild cases of COVID-19 than they do in severe cases, and wane significantly within several months of infection, according to a new study by researchers at Stanford Medicine.

The findings identify new links between the course of the disease and a patient’s immune response. They also raise concerns about whether people can be re-infected, whether antibody tests to detect prior infection may underestimate the breadth of the pandemic and whether vaccinations may need to be repeated at regular intervals to maintain a protective immune response.

Boyd is a senior author of the study, which was published Dec. 7 in Science Immunology.

Release date: 23 December 2020
Source: Stanford Medicine

Over 80 percent of COVID-19 patients have vitamin D deficiency - اکثریت بیماران مبتلا به کووید 19 دچار کمبود ویتامین دی هستند

Over 80 percent of 200 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in Spain have vitamin D deficiency, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Vitamin D is a hormone the kidneys produce that controls blood calcium concentration and impacts the immune system. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a variety of health concerns, although research is still underway into why the hormone impacts other systems of the body. Many studies point to the beneficial effect of vitamin D on the immune system, especially regarding protection against infections.

The researchers found 80 percent of 216 COVID-19 patients at the Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla had vitamin D deficiency, and men had lower vitamin D levels than women. COVID-19 patients with lower vitamin D levels also had raised serum levels of inflammatory markers such as ferritin and D-dimer.

Release date: 27 October 2020
Source: The Endocrine Society

COVID-19 infection may deplete testosterone - کرونا دشمن هورمون جنسی مردانه

For the first time, data from a study with patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 suggest that the disease might deteriorate men’s testosterone levels.

Testosterone is associated with the immune system of respiratory organs, and low levels of testosterone might increase the risk of respiratory infections. Low testosterone is also associated with infection-related hospitalisation and all-cause mortality in male in ICU patients, so testosterone treatment may also have benefits beyond improving outcomes for COVID-19.

Publishing their results in the peer-reviewed journal The Aging Male.
Release date: 28 September 2020
Source: Taylor & Francis Group

Obesity may alter immune system response to COVID-19 - چاقی باعث بروز تغییراتی در ایمنی علیه کرونا می شود.

Obesity may cause a hyperactive immune system response to COVID-19 infection that makes it difficult to fight off the virusaccording to a new manuscript published in the Endocrine Society’s journal, Endocrinology.

Release date: 3 September 2020

Source: The Endocrine Society