There can be no second thought that COVID-19 is minacious to everyone who gets affected by it. But the recent studies are indicating more of its threatening effects on individuals who get affected by the virus because the effects are not only shown at the time of infection and when an individual is recovering but even later. The autoantibodies found in recent research cause severe problems in the body.
Now COVID Infection Can Cause Autoantibodies To Kill Our Body’s Cells
When the body is affected by pathogens or viruses, the immune system reacts to them by producing antibodies. The antibodies are produced in response to the antigens formed due to the presence of the pathogens.
These antibodies recognize the virus and remember it for taking the preventive measures to stop their invasion in the cell and their effect on the body. But in the case of coronavirus, the immune system starts behaving abnormally, and other than the production of antibodies, there is a production of autoantibodies which affect the organs and tissues of the individual’s own body.
In the recent research, there were almost 177 people taken into consideration. These 177 individuals were the ones who had suffered from SARS-CoV-2. After which, the blood samples of these people were collected to evaluate the antibody and autoantibodies in them.
The blood samples from the infected individual were compared with the blood samples of healthy people before the pandemic, and it was evident by the results that there was a characteristic increase in the autoantibodies in the blood sample of the infected ones. Levels of autoantibodies were also increased for the individual suffering from autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
The research scientist in the Department of Cardiology at the Smidt Heart Institute and also the co-senior author of the study Justyna Fert-Bober, Ph.D. stated that “These findings help to explain what makes COVID-19 an especially unique disease,” This not only makes coronavirus a unique species of the virus but also very threatening to the human race as when our antibodies which protect us against the virus starts working contradictory and starts destroying our body cells tissues and organs the situation is almost out of control and life-threatening most of the times.
Susan Cheng, MD, MPH, MMSc, director of the Institute for Research on Healthy Aging in the Department of Cardiology at the Smidt Heart Institute and co-senior author of the study, stated, “We found signals of autoantibody activity that are usually linked to chronic inflammation and injury involving specific organ systems and tissues such as the joints, skin and nervous system,” So most of these autoantibodies found in the individuals are due to chronic infections. Though these diseases are more prone in females in the study, males were found more autoantibodies in the blood sample.
Scientists and healthcare professionals want to further research about it and know the different types of autoantibodies responsible for deteriorating their cells. Understanding the relationship between the virus and the antibodies would give a better understanding of the COVID-19 diseases.
This would also help develop new techniques and measures to prevent and combat the virus successfully. Also, safeguard the individuals at high risk of disease.
The only way to deal with the problem well is to understand it keenly and then work on the solution same is the case here new facts are identified each day about the COVID-19. So there’s a need for continuous research and collection of more information to understand the new characteristics completely and then analyze and prepare methods best suited for dealing with the COVID-19 and other infections that may come up in the future.
