Research led by the Institute of Biomedicine of Seville, in Spain, opens new avenues of treatment for covid-19 with a therapy capable of selectively inhibiting the harmful effects of a protein that increases in the blood during the coronavirus, preserving its properties protective.
The IL-6 protein was considered from the beginning of the pandemic to be one of those responsible for exacerbated inflammation and, therefore, one of the main targets to be inhibited to stop the disease. However, although this protein has harmful functions, it also plays a role in defending against infections.
The drugs used until now inhibited the action of this protein globally (both its harmful and protective effects), with “controversial” results and with an increased risk of co-infections in patients, explained the Higher Council for Scientific Research. (CSIC) of Spain.
The group has tested in mice a novel therapy that selectively inhibits the harmful effects of the IL-6 protein, preserving its beneficial properties, resulting in a decrease in symptoms and mortality in infected animals.
In addition, mice that survived the infection and did not receive treatment maintained long-term lung damage, which may be related to the development of post-covid syndrome or persistent covid, while treated mice presented less damage.
The results of the work help to understand the origin and progression of the disease and open new possibilities for the development of more specific therapies for covid-19 and its long-term consequences.
This finding, led by members of the CSIC Global Health Interdisciplinary Thematic Platform, in collaboration with the University of Kiel (Germany), opens new avenues of treatment for the consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the short and long term ( post-covid syndrome or persistent covid). EFE
