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Ancient part of immune system may underpin severe COVID:
One of the immune system's oldest branches, called complement, may be influencing the severity of COVID disease, according to a new study from researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
Among other findings linking complement to COVID, the researchers found that people with age-related macular degeneration -- a disorder caused by overactive complement -- are at greater risk of developing severe complications and dying from COVID.
The connection with complement suggests that existing drugs that inhibit the complement system could help treat patients with severe disease.
The study was published on Aug. 3 in Nature Medicine.
The authors also found evidence that clotting activity is linked to COVID severity and that mutations in certain complement and coagulation genes are associated with hospitalization of COVID patients.
"Together these results provide important insights into the pathophysiology of COVID-19 and paint a picture for the role of complement and coagulation pathways in determining clinical outcomes of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2," says Sagi Shapira, PhD, MPH, who led the study with Nicholas Tatonetti, PhD, both professors at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Journal Reference:
Vijendra Ramlall, Phyllis M. Thangaraj, Cem Meydan, et al. Immune complement and coagulation dysfunction in adverse outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection [open], Nature Medicine (DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-1021-2)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 04 2020, @11:45AM (1 child)
The government has been spraying dyhydrogen monoxide trails into the atmosphere.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 04 2020, @01:33PM
Precipitated Dihydrogen Monoxide in the shape of a low pressure nimbostratus formation is directly over my home.
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 04 2020, @11:50AM (6 children)
Seriously though. Take any "weird" symptom of covid and search it with "high altitude", it will be there:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1874391918304603 [sciencedirect.com]
We've known what to do since mid April folks, it's only incompetence, greed, and politics sustaining the pandemic now.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 04 2020, @12:15PM (5 children)
I'm too dumb to make the connection that you appear to have made. Please spell it out. I did look at the paper abstract from 2019 that you linked.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 04 2020, @12:19PM (4 children)
Complement activation occurs in both high altitude sickness and covid.
In fact go find anything that happens at high altitude and you can count on its showing up relatively frequently in covid patients.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 04 2020, @12:27PM
Cool, cool.
So if I rent a submarine for a few months...
(Score: 4, Interesting) by RS3 on Tuesday August 04 2020, @02:38PM
Interesting connection, but may be coincidence, because polycythemia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycythemia [wikipedia.org] and other red blood cell disorders are involved in both macular degeneration and altitude sickness, but even then cause - effect isn't clear. There certainly seems to be interconnection, and maybe complement production is triggered by red blood cell production? Or by the same triggering mechanism? One of the main treatments, dexamethasone, seems to help in all of the above. I'm still wondering why dexamethasone wasn't being used in COVID patients long ago.
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Tuesday August 04 2020, @04:54PM
When I was in my 20s, I visited Denver for a few days (my home was just a few hundred feet above sea level) and thought 3 or 4 days would make it OK to drive to the top of Mt. Evans. It wasn't. I got severe mountain sickness. I didn't have to go to the hospital, but I was out for the rest of the day with a bad headache, and I got a floater in my eye that lingered for years. I wonder if this means I'm at greater risk for severe Covid-19 symptoms.
That trip was one of my first experiences with anything like real altitude. Since then I've learned the early warning signs. My current home altitude is 1600 ft. I don't spend much time walking around above 8000 ft. if I'm not acclimated. I have no trouble walking around South Lake Tahoe (about 6000 ft. ), but if I get out of the car at the top of Ebbet's Pass (8700 ft.) I definitely feel it. After a couple nights in Tahoe, we took a hike that probably brought us above 7000 ft. and it was no problem, so I know I can acclimate--just not that fast. One thing I've noticed is that if I'm just sitting down, I won't feel anything really off until about 10,000 ft. Then I feel just a bit off. I'll want to get out of the car and take a breather--but it's the exact wrong thing to do because if I get out of the car at the rest stop on the pass it just prolongs the effect. If I go straight through, up and over ASAP I'm golden--no problem at all.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 2) by sonamchauhan on Tuesday August 04 2020, @10:30PM
Using Parked planes as hyperbaric chambers... Wonder why airlines don't allow this? At least all those 747s they're scrapping if they're worried about airframe damage.
https://www.engadget.com/covid-19-hyperbaric-chamber-163005245.html [engadget.com]
(Score: 3, Funny) by Subsentient on Tuesday August 04 2020, @12:02PM (2 children)
Now the science papers are doing it?
Stop using the wrong name for the virus!
It's technically called EBOLAIDS.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 04 2020, @12:12PM
> EBOLAIDS
Reminds me of Rolaids -- over-the-counter pill for stomach gas pain.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 05 2020, @05:40AM
what is wrong with you? @realDonaldTrump was a troll account. you have no excuse.
(Score: 2) by legont on Tuesday August 04 2020, @01:03PM
I gave up counting my risk factors...
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Ken_g6 on Tuesday August 04 2020, @03:11PM
Because heparin may bind to and block the virus.
https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=20/07/16/1221227 [soylentnews.org]