Portuguese discover mechanism that predicts severity of COVID-19

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, August 5, 2021
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LISBON, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S) at the University of Porto announced on Wednesday it has discovered the mechanism that defines why the severity of COVID-19 is so variable in each infected person.

According to an official statement from i3S, a change in T lymphocytes explains "why SARS-CoV-2 infection causes mild or even asymptomatic disease in some individuals and severe and complicated disease in others."

The study, led by researcher Salome Pinho, showed that circulating T cells "provide protection against the virus" by "exchanging their glycans (sugar molecules) in a specific way after infection with SARS-CoV-2."

According to the study, there is a more intense "immunological response" in patients with more "glycosylated T lymphocytes," making them asymptomatic.

Pinho explained that this reaction "can be detected at diagnosis," and therefore constitutes a "new biomarker of COVID-19 prognosis and severity, as well as a new therapeutic target."

The research team also demonstrated that, in asymptomatic patients, blood mononuclear cells exhibit an "increased expression of a specific protein," capable of efficiently recognizing the virus.

i3S collaborated on this research with the University Hospital Center of Porto, and the Hospital Center of Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho.

The results of the study, which was funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) Research 4 Covid initiative, were published in The Journal of Immunology. Enditem

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