In a new study, researchers have found what they believe is a hallmark of severe COVID-19 patients.
The research was conducted by a team from multiple institutions in France.
The global pandemic has led medical scientists around the world to study the SARS-CoV-2 virus and associated infections.
One characteristic of such infections is the difference in the degree of symptoms: some people are asymptomatic, while others find themselves unable to breathe.
Scientists hope that if the reason for different reactions to infection can be found, a means of treating people with severe infections may soon follow.
In the study, the team examined 50 patients in French hospitals with varying symptoms—from those with a minor cough to those on ventilators.
Their goal was to find a common factor in patients with severe symptoms.
They analyzed blood, tissue, immune cells and other samples from the patients, and came upon what they believe is a signature for people with severe infections—a combination of an interferon response deficiency and exacerbated inflammation.
The signature may represent a hallmark for severely ill COVID-19 patients. These findings could lead to therapies that boost interferon response to infection while also reducing inflammation.
More specifically, the researchers found that critically ill patients had a deficiency in the response of type I interferons—a kind of protein that is used by the immune system to fight infections.
In addition, there were higher than normal levels of proinflammatory signaling. Together, the two responses left patients with little ammunition to fight their infections.
The work builds on other studies that interferon signaling in infected areas may play a role in mitigating disease progression.
Such work has shown that duration, timing, and location of interferon exposure to the virus are critical factors that appear to underlie the degree of success with current therapies.
One author of the study is Jérôme Hadjadj from the University of Paris.
The study is published in Science.
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