Scientists of the Medical Center at the University of Amsterdam found out why coronavirus infection in many patients leads to severe symptoms and complications. The reason was anomalies in the response of immune antibodies, which can be counteracting with the help of a new drug approved for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. This is reported in the article published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
researchers found out that in patients with severe COVID-19, antibodies with an aberrant structure are produced, which causes a strong inflammatory response in the lungs and dramatically impairs the course of the disease. Excessive inflammatory reaction disrupts the functions of their own tissues and the patient organs, contributes to the formation of blood clots in the blood vessels and respiratory distress syndrome, in which the lungs begin to be filled with liquid.
Currently, drugs that block excessive activation of the immune system are used to treat severe patients: dexamethasone and tocilizumab. Their main disadvantage is that they suppress the immune system as a whole. Experts found out that the phostaminib allows immune cells in the lungs not to react to abnormal antibodies, but it is struggling with a virus.
The drug was tested on 59 patients. In a group of 30 people who received Fostatinib, there were fewer complications and deaths, and recovery was faster than in a group of 29 patients who received placebo. Currently, the medicine is tested in the third phase of clinical studies, which should show whether this drug is indeed effective to rescue seriously ill patients with COVID-19.