A study by French researchers could help identify patients at risk for coronavirus. Published this week in the American journal Science, it shows that a deficiency in the blood of a protein normally produced by the immune system "could be the hallmark of severe forms of Covid-19".
"The deficiency of type 1 interferons in the blood could be a signature of severe forms" of the disease, conclude the scientists. Interferons are proteins of the cytokine family produced in particular by cells of the immune system in response to the presence of an infection.
These data suggest that type I interferon deficiency in the blood could be the hallmark of severe forms of # COVID19 and underline the importance of preventive approaches combining early administration of interferon and anti-inflammatory therapy. https://t.co/oXvlrztFlb https://t.co/ADNtJJYSzW
- Inserm (@Inserm) July 16, 2020A major breakthrough
About 5% of people with Covid-19 progress to a severe or critical form, with severe pneumonia turning into acute respiratory distress syndrome, often occurring 9 to 12 days after the onset of the first mild to moderate symptoms.
Researchers believe that this worsening is caused by a sharp increase in cytokines, which causes a runaway of the "inflammatory response" of the body. But doctors cannot say precisely which patients will develop this serious form of the disease, beyond the risk factors observed (diabetes, obesity, advanced age, etc.)
However, this is “an essential question (…) to improve the individual care and the prognosis of these patients”, observed Thursday in a press release Inserm, the University of Paris, the Imagine Institute, l 'Public Assistance-Paris Hospitals (AP-HP) and the Pasteur Institute.
"Identify a high risk population"
The study authors, from these organizations, performed analyzes on 50 patients with Covid-19, with different degrees of severity. It appears that in seriously ill patients "the production and activity of type 1 interferons are greatly reduced". They also present "a persistent viral load in the blood, testifying to the poor control of viral replication by the immune system of patients and leading to the runaway of an ineffective and pathological inflammatory response".
The study also reveals that "low levels of type 1 interferons in plasma precede the clinical worsening of patients and their transfer to intensive care." Consequently, this deficiency "could be a signature of the serious forms of Covid-19 and could make it possible to identify a population at high risk".
In addition, these results "underline the interest of therapeutic approaches associating the early administration of interferons with an adapted anti-inflammatory therapy (…) in patients preventing a severe form", conclude the authors.
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