A new study from UCLA shows that a viral protein other than the well-known spike protein may play an important role in severe COVID-19 and possibly even long-term COVID. The protein, called the nucleocapsid protein, is found inside the virus and is responsible for protecting its genetic material.
The researchers discovered that this protein affects the immune system in two opposite ways. Early in the infection, it suppresses the body’s antiviral defenses, which helps the virus establish itself. At the same time, it can later overactivate immune cells called macrophages. These release large amounts of inflammatory signaling substances, which can lead to severe inflammation and damage to the body’s tissues.
In laboratory experiments, the researchers saw that the severe inflammation caused the protective barriers of the blood vessels to become more permeable, especially in models of the blood vessels of the heart. This could help explain why some people with COVID-19 suffer from heart problems and other complications. The variant of the virus that had the strongest inflammatory effect was the delta variant.
The researchers believe that the results may help explain some of the long-term complications seen after COVID-19, where persistent overactive inflammation is thought to play an important role. They also believe that future treatments or vaccines that target the nucleocapsid protein, rather than just the spike protein, could reduce harmful inflammation more specifically and thereby protect, among other things, the heart and blood vessels.
The study was conducted on cell models in the laboratory and shows a possible biological mechanism. It does not prove that this alone causes long-term COVID in humans, but provides a new and important piece of the puzzle in understanding how SARS-CoV-2 can cause long-term symptoms.
Credit: Explaining text by Patrik Andersson (Facebook group “SARS-CoV-2 Omvärldsbevakning”)
Tag: Long Covid
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What SARS-CoV-2 Does to the Body (2nd Edition, July 2023)
An extensive compilation of links to studies and statistics on what SARS-Cov-2 does to your body, brain etc. And it is way worse than most people know.
https://www.panaccindex.info/p/what-sars-cov-2-does-to-the-body
Early on in the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic findings indicated that the virus penetrated the blood-brain barrier and entered the brain. Since then more and more have been found that points to SARS-Cov-2 sticking around for long after seemingly recovering from Covid.
It is clear people with Long Covid have arrays of health problems. Usually n ot only one symptom, but a whole bunch of them. The risk of dying is also more than twice as high
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2802095
Covid-19 affects our brains. Those of us still uninfected can notice how people around us change after their first bat with the virus. In long covid it often continues…
https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/what-we-now-know-about-long-covid-and-our-brains.amp
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Adults Arthritis Blood clots Bone loss Brain damage Brain fog Cardiovascular conditions Children Chronic Fatigue Diabetes Type-1 Exhausted T-cells Fatigue Fever Heart disease Heart lesions Hjärnan Hyperinflammation Immune dysfunction Immune system Long Covid Long Covid Lung damage Memory problem Mental health Micro Clots Muscle Pain Neurological Damage Organ impairment Pain Respiratory Resulting illnesses Skador av Covid - Hjärnan Smitta Svenska The Virus Trombosis Vascular damage and desease
Dette skjer i kroppen ved long covid, ifølge ny oppsummering av forskning
Det sker mycket i kroppen när man får Covid-19, och långcovid innebär att det inte tar slut, utan förvärras ofta med tiden. Här här en norsk genomgång.
Covid-19 affects the whole body, every organ and tissue. Here is another study on the subject, giving more knowledge meat on them bones.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01410768231154703#fig2-01410768231154703
Declining levels of T-cells, infection after infection, declining health, weird skin cancer, pneumonia that won’t resolve even with tons of antibiotics; does it sound familiar? We might be looking at this again, 40 years after the AIDS-epidemic hit USA and Western Europe…
Immunological dysfunction persists for 8 months following initial mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection. Considering that a this is what most of those who catch Covid-19 experiences, this is pretty alarming. And since the first Omicron wave, many Europeans and Americans has caught it 2-3 times during 2022. And there is no reson to believe this pattern of repeated infections will change during 2023 without mitigation measures. Catching Covid twice or more per year likely leads to a downward spiral for the immune system.
Many, not only long Covid patients, experience so called brain fog after being infected with SARS-Cov-2. Now scientists at Karolinska Institutet have discovered why: broken connections in the brain.