More severe COVID-19 symptoms in some people may be due to a missing 'front-line' defence

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-06-07 03:00

International

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People who get more severe COVID-19 symptoms may be missing a 'front-line' of defence, according to international researchers. The team found that individuals at risk of severe COVID-19 have reduced levels of circulating inflammatory proteins in their blood, which ordinarily would form a 'front-line' defence against infection. They suggest that after a COVID-19 infection, people with a lowered initial defence may experience an over-compensated secondary immune response known as a 'cytokine storm' as the immune system attempts to compensate for the insufficient first response. The researchers suggest that this condition may be particularly relevant to the elderly and those with high BMI, as these groups often show lower inflammatory proteins, and vaccines that prime the immune system may therefore prove to be partially protective against COVID-19.

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From:

Journal/
conference: Clinical & Translational Immunology

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Weill Cornell Medicine, US

Funder: This study represents independent research part-funded by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R21AI154956.

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