Research results that prolonged sequelae of new corona infection may be related to herpes virus
It has become clear that some people who are infected with the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) are asymptomatic,
Could long COVID be linked to herpes viruses?
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02296-5
The long-term sequelae of COVID-19 are said to last for months to years after infection with the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), sometimes debilitatingly affecting patients. Some studies have shown that the long-term sequelae of COVID-19 affect 5-50% of COVID-19 patients, but it is unclear what kind of people will suffer from long-term sequelae. I had almost no clue.
So, a research team led by Akiko Iwasaki , an immunobiologist at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, collected thousands of data points from each of 215 subjects to determine the long-term effects of COVID-19. We are analyzing differences in immunological characteristics between patients suffering from sequelae and healthy individuals.
In the study, the subjects were ``those who had never been infected with COVID-19 or who recovered immediately after infection'' as ``healthy subjects'' (116 people), and ``those who suffered from the long-term sequelae of COVID-19''. were classified as “subjects suffering from aftereffects” (99 people). Analysis revealed that 'subjects suffering from aftereffects' had levels of cortisol , a type of stress hormone that helps regulate inflammation, blood sugar levels, and sleep cycles, about 50% lower than 'healthy subjects'. It is
In addition, ``subjects suffering from aftereffects'' may have recently ``reactivated'' the
In addition to this, ``subjects suffering from aftereffects'' have been shown to have abnormalities in certain types of blood and immune cells, as well as dysfunctional immune cells, indicating that the immune system has been working for a long time. suggests.
Regarding the results of this analysis, Mr. Iwasaki said, ``It does not suggest that a decrease in cortisol levels or activation of the herpes virus causes the prolongation of COVID-19, but that there is a need for further research on its relevance to the syndrome. I am warning you about Previous studies have also suggested that low cortisol levels and EB virus are associated with prolonged sequelae of COVID-19.
However, it has been pointed out that the current research led by Mr. Iwasaki is relatively small. For example, the analysis on cortisol levels included 99 'subjects suffering from sequelae', but only 40 'healthy subjects'. ``Suffering from the long-term consequences of COVID-19,'' said Michael Sneller, an expert at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Bethesda, Maryland, who studies the long-term consequences of COVID-19. The small number of controls compared to subjects is problematic.'
Another issue is that the study did not directly analyze subjects for the presence of EB and varicella-zoster viruses, but instead measured antibody levels to the viruses. However, the study notes that 'subjects with long-term sequelae of COVID-19 have higher levels of antibodies to EB virus and varicella-zoster virus than healthy people.'
``The main weakness of this paper is its very small sample size,'' Sneller cautioned. However, Danny Altman, an immunologist at Imperial College London who was not involved in the study, argued that research on the long-term sequelae of COVID-19 was exactly what the community needed. As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on, 'there's a real struggle in the field to figure out which drugs to test. The more research of this kind, the more important it is to design appropriate randomized, symmetrical trials.' will become more possible,” he said.
This study is a non-peer-reviewed study published on medRxiv .
Related Posts:
in Web Service, Posted by logu_ii