The fact that some people that become seriously ill with COVID-19 patients suffer long-term lung damage from the virus has been known for some time. Now scientists at the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) have discovered why this is the case.
The impact of becoming seriously ill with coronavirus on part of our innate immune system causes long-term damage to our lungs. VIB hopes its findings will lead to new treatments.
In collaboration with the Ghent University Hospital, the University of Ghent and the Dutch-medium Free University of Brussels (VUB) Researchers from the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) examined more than 500 patients with COVID-19, The cause of lung damage in patients with a severe form of COVID-19 turned out to be the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6, which affects our complement system.
Normally, the complement system, itself part of innate immunity, effectively removes pathogens and dead cells from our body. But in extreme cases of COVID-19, this process can get out of kilter. This results in severe damage to the lungs.
Pulmonologist and immunologist Dr. Bart Lambrecht told VRT News that the complement system is a set of proteins, mainly secreted by the liver. “However, we found that the lungs also started to produce a lot of complement system proteins”. The uncontrolled activity of these proteins damages the pulmonary alveoli, making it difficult to absorb oxygen.
Scientists hope that new treatments will emerge and have already seen positive results with interleukin 6 drugs. These are typically used to treat rheumatoid arthritis but also appear to be effective here. Additional research is still needed to determine whether directly blocking the complement system could also be beneficial.