Put the T-killer to sleep

Proposed method for suppressing secondary inflammation in COVID-19

Well, alarming on the fronts again. Indian summer is slowly creeping into the autumn tunnel, and in it old “friends”… Meanwhile, scientists from NUST MISIS, RAS and Sechenov University have proposed a new method for detecting and preventing cases of re-inflammation in patients with coronavirus infection. The method is based on interaction with T cells – a special type of invariant lymphocytes that protect the mucous membranes. Research article published in Frontiers in Immunology Journal.

This is how the T-killer attacks
This is how the T-killer attacks

The mucous membranes, both outside and inside the body, are especially vulnerable to viruses and bacteria. As one of the main “security” forces are MAIT cells – a special type of T-lymphocytes that detect pathogens and destroy their membranes. It is MAIT cells that cause what we call inflammation in the affected areas of tissue – a rise in temperature, swelling, redness, and excessive secretion.

T-killer can "work" both with viruses and bacteria, and with cancer cells
T-killer can “work” both with viruses and bacteria, and with cancer cells

They are considered a kind of “first aid” of the body, the first to react to the appearance of infections. They tend to concentrate in blood vessels, skin and other points where bacteria are most likely to enter, and they control other immune cells to generate a wide variety of chemical signals when they encounter pathogens.

Scientists from NUST MISIS, the Center for Crystallography and Photonics of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the First Moscow State Medical University. THEM. Sechenov found out that the microbiotic composition of the human body (microorganisms present in our body) can quite strongly affect the course of respiratory infections, including coronavirus.

According to experts, every seventh patient with COVID-19 who is on artificial lung ventilation, the course of the disease was aggravated by additional acquired pathologies. At a time when the patient’s body is so weak that it cannot cope without mechanical ventilation, the tissues are especially vulnerable to secondary bacterial and fungal infections. In this case, overly active work MAIT cells can only aggravate the situation and hinder the patient’s recovery.

Sometimes killer T cells are overly active
Sometimes killer T cells are overly active

“In general, these cells are beneficial because they serve as a defense against bacterial or fungal infections. But with an already developed viral infection and a high level of inflammation, the activity of MAIT cells can aggravate the disease. According to the latest data, there is reason to believe that this activity is enhanced in patients with COVID-19 – this can be seen in the cytokine profile, as well as in secondary infections that develop in patients with COVID-19. Of course, this still requires further study “, – comments by Roman Akasov, Researcher at the Laboratory of Biomedical Nanomaterials, NUST MISIS.

Experiments in the laboratory "Biomedical nanomaterials" NUST "MISIS"
Experiments in the laboratory “Biomedical nanomaterials” NUST “MISIS”

Thus, in certain cases, MAIT cells sometimes do not help fight the infection, but, on the contrary, are its accomplices. According to some researchers, they are the main source of interferon-gamma, a signaling molecule associated with inflammation.

Observing their reaction to colonies of common staphylococci and streptococci, immunologists noticed that these cells began to behave in an extremely unusual way – they seemed to “go crazy” and began to secrete a huge amount of protein signaling molecules that forced other immune cells to attack everything. , not just microbes.

As Roman Akasov adds, MAIT cells are activated in the presence of viral diseases such as herpes, hepatitis, and influenza. A number of new studies show this is true for COVID-19 as well. Lymphocytes “collect” in the lungs, and there is every reason to believe that the more, the higher the severity of the disease.

On the basis of these discoveries, NUST MISIS scientists suggested using MAIT cell inhibitorsin other words, suppress the excessive immune response to avoid complications.

Inhibitor
Inhibitor

In general, no one has yet said better than Paracelsus. “Allpoison, allmedicine; both are determined by the dose. “

Cheers, friends.

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