A new study explores the interactions between airway cells and immune cells at the molecular level to identify why some people are at risk of severe Covid-19 while others are not.
There is plenty of evidence that SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus, affects individuals differently. About 80% of those who have SARS-CoV-2 experience a clinically mild version of Covid-19, meaning that they get better without needing to go to the hospital. Risk factors for severe disease include being male, being older, and having underlying health conditions, among other factors.
What drives these risk factors is not entirely clear. Some experts have suggested that an excessive immune reaction in response to the virus is at the heart of the damage to the lungs and other parts of the body that people with severe Covid-19 experience.
To pinpoint how different cells interact and communicate with each other, the multidisciplinary research team performed a single cell RNA sequencing analysis of upper and lower respiratory tract samples from 19 people in the hospital with Covid-19 and five volunteers without the new coronavirus.
In total, the scientists analyzed 160,528 individual cells. Of the 19 people with Covid-19, eight had moderate disease, the authors write, while they classed 11 as critical. Two people died from the disease.
In the participants with Covid-19, the team saw a three-fold increase in gene expression of the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) gene, which encodes the receptor that the new coronavirus uses to attach to cells during infection.
BOOSTING BRAIN ANTIOXIDANTS COULD IMPROVE PSYCHOSIS OUTCOMES: A study of people experiencing a first episode of psychosis has shown that higher levels of the antioxidant glutathione are associated with quicker responses to treatment and may improve early intervention outcomes.
The time it takes for somebody to respond to treatment for psychosis a key indicator of their long-term outcome.
In around one-third of people with schizophrenia, the condition is considered resistant to treatment. This is associated with more severe symptoms and more time spent in the hospital.
A new study that appears in Molecular Psychiatry set out to understand this disparity. In a collaborative effort among a range of Canadian institutions, researchers looked at the levels of a protective antioxidant in the brains of people experiencing a first episode of psychosis.
Some studies have found a lack of glutathione in people experiencing psychosis, specifically in the cingulate cortex — a part of the brain associated with emotion regulation, which is highly important in schizophrenia.
The lack of glutathione seems to be most striking in patients who have continuing symptoms, even after receiving treatment, suggesting that the molecule could be associated with response to treatment.
Glutathione is also important in relation to another chemical called glutamate. At high levels, glutamate can be toxic to neurons, and this is known to occur in first-episode psychosis. Excess glutamate has also been associated with reduced responsiveness to the treatment of psychosis.
