The scientists of the Yale University confirmed the mechanism for the development of the heavy and dangerous form of COVID-19, which amazes 10-20 percent of the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus. Opening helped to find a drug for effective treatment of the disease. This is reported in an article published in Nature Biotechnology.
Experiments on genetically modified mice showed that the cause of complications for coronavirus infection is an excess inflammatory immunity response. At the same time, two well-known treatment methods are the use of monoclonal antibodies and steroid dexamethasone – can help in the treatment of COVID-19 infections. However, antibodies are effective only in the early stages of the disease.
researchers introduced coronavirus into the nasal cavity of mice, which as a result began to suffer from typical symptoms of heavy COVID-19: lung damage, weight loss and reinforced persistent inflammatory immune response. In the early stages of infection, the immunosuppressant dexamethasone was fatal for mice when suppressed the initial immune response, which was crucial to combat the virus.
However, this drug helped get rid of infection at the later stages of the disease, suppressing an inflammatory response, which led to damage to the organs. This discovery will help to develop new methods for treating severe COVID-19.