In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, many immunologists believed that patients who produced large amounts of antibodies in the early stages of infection may not get sick, but the actual situation may not be the case. After studying COVID-19 for several months, the study Staff believe that the situation of COVID-19 infection may be more complicated than imagined. A recent study found that in some patients, preventing the immune system from dysregulation may be as important as treating viral infections.
Nowadays, people increasingly realize that the power of the immune system in fighting infection may be insignificant, and the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic is also a painful turning point. Among patients with severe COVID-19, there is research evidence that In addition to resisting the inflammatory process of SARS-CoV-2, it can also cause harm to patients. In clinical studies, researchers described the so-called cytokine storm. Children recovered from COVID-19 will produce a large amount of Inflammatory molecules and antibodies, which can induce dangerous thrombus and inflammatory manifestations of multiple organ systems including blood vessels, and these are some dangerous signs. In some patients, the body is immune to SARS-CoV-2 The response may have shifted from curative to destructive tilt.
Understanding the characteristics of immune disorders in COVID-19 patients may be expected to help identify which patients can get the most benefit from treatment, and it even proves the current more targeted and powerful means of regulating the immune system reserved for autoimmune diseases Maybe it is correct. Antibodies are a powerful weapon. They are produced by white blood cells called B cells. They can lock in infectious factors such as viruses and bacteria and effectively inhibit their infection of healthy cells; these antibody-virus aggregates release powerful Inflammatory response, and as a homing signal to allow other frontal immune systems of the body to effectively lock in pathogens, and in some cases even cause death; antibodies are so powerful, they sometimes mistakenly cause extensive organ damage in the body. It can also establish a permanent immune self-targeting cycle. We can call this self-destructive state an autoimmune disease.
In order to avoid autoimmune disasters and ensure that they can produce an effective immune response to invading pathogens, B cells need to undergo a training process. Those B cells that respond to viruses will continue to improve their antibodies and mature. Ensure that potential antibodies can inactivate the invader. But this maturation process takes time. During severe infections, two weeks of B cell training may mean the difference between life and death, so the body needs a faster antibody response at this time. To bridge this gap, the immune system produces an alternative form of B cell activation, the so-called extrafollicular activation, which can produce fast-acting antibodies, which seems to bypass many known safety The examination will also be accompanied by a more precise immune response.
The additional follicular response progresses very rapidly, and it is designed to be shorter, and it will subside when more targeted responses appear. During 2015-2018, researchers found that these additional follicular immune system responses are such as lupus. Patients with autoimmune diseases have common characteristics, and patients often show long-term active extra follicular reactions, which can lead to the production of high levels of self-targeting antibodies and the destruction of organs such as the lungs, heart, and kidneys. The presence of special types of B cells in the blood produced by additional follicular reactions may be an important indicator of the severity of diseases such as lupus.
In a recently published research report, researchers found additional follicular B cell characteristics in COVID-19 cases similar to those in active lupus cases. In the early response of the body to infection, severely ill patients often experience antibodies Due to the rapid activation of the fast track, these patients will produce high levels of virus-specific antibodies, some of which can neutralize the virus. However, in addition to these protective antibodies, some of the antibodies observed by the researchers are also very Suspiciously, it is like antibodies that appear in autoimmune diseases such as lupus. Finally, patients with these autoimmune B-cell responses will have poor performance and have a high incidence of systemic organ failure and death.
Researchers stated that COVID-19 is not an autoimmune disease, and the autoimmune-like inflammatory response discovered by the researchers may only reflect a normal response of the body to a viral infection. However, even if this reaction is normal, it does not mean that it is dangerous. These prolonged extra follicular reactions will cause autoimmune diseases to become more serious through the production of self-targeting antibodies and the appearance of inflammatory reactions. ; Now scientists need to realize that in suitable patients, slowing the patient’s immune response through steroid therapy (or even more powerful autoimmune-focused therapy) may be the key to combating COVID-19 infection Arms, clinicians and scientists must build unique treatment methods around this concept. Even in COVID-19 cases, controlling the body’s immune response to the virus may be as important as controlling the virus itself.