The risk of death from Covid19 is much higher in patients with auto-antibodies against interferon. Dosing these antibodies could be the key to treating patients at risk of death in a timely manner.
The risk of death from Covid19 increases with age
We have learned that those most affected and most at risk of suffering serious consequences from Sars-CoV2 are the elderly. We know that the lethality rate doubles every 5 years but, although there are several hypotheses as to why the elderly are more at risk than the young, the cause has not yet been fully explained.
What is certainly known is that, as we age, the immune system becomes more fragile and less reactive and, therefore, less ready to handle an insidious infection such as that from Sars-Cov2.
A group of French researchers has found a relevant correlation between the presence of auto-antibodies against interferon and death from Covid19.
Interferon is a protein produced by our immune system as a result of infections or tumors. This protein is essential in the early stages of an infection, that is, in the activation of the innate immune system, that arm of the immune system that is activated first and fights infections in a general way.
Signs of innate activation are redness, swelling, and fever. The activation of the innate system allows the subsequent activation of the adaptive system which contributes to the destruction of the pathogen. The adaptive system, as the name suggests, adapts according to the pathogen and involves the production of T, B lymphocytes and antibodies.
The researchers started from some observations and correlations, concerning the fact that patients who died due to Covid19 had high levels of auto-antibodies against interferon, and then observed that the presence of these auto-antibodies was associated with the severity of the disease.
In practice, subjects with high levels of auto-antibodies before Covid19 infection will have a more severe disease and also a greater risk of death. The presence of these autoantibodies increases in the healthy population with increasing average age and signals a deterioration of the immune system.
All these elements constitute correlations between auto-antibodies and the severity of Covid19 but we know that a correlation alone is not sufficient to explain a phenomenon.
Fundamental interferon in the response to Covid19
The results of a large Brazilian clinical trial also show that administering interferon to people at risk of contracting a severe disease decreases the likelihood of hospitalization by 50%.
The results of the Brazilian study confirm the correlation between the presence of interferon and a good immune response and consequent reduction in the risk of death, as opposed to the presence of auto-antibodies that reduce the amount of interferon thus causing a more serious disease.
A potential ally
The French study (confirmed by the Brazilian trial) therefore confirms that the presence and level of auto-antibodies against interferon are a powerful indicator of the risk of death from Covid19.
Testing the presence and level of these auto-antibodies could help to better stratify the population and to identify in a timely manner the subjects at greatest risk.
TAKE HOME MESSAGE
- the risk of death from Covid19 increases with age
- there is a strong correlation between the severity of Covid19 and the presence of auto-antibodies against interferon
- interferon is fundamental in the response against Covid19
- testing the population for the presence of autoantibodies helps determine who is most at risk
REF:
https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.2200413119
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abd4585
Aureliano Stingi, doctor in molecular biology works in the field of precision oncology. He collaborates with the World Health Organization in the battle against Covid19-themed fake news
Twitter: @AurelianoStingi Instagram: Aureliano _Stingi