May 4, 2024

The Invisible Scars of COVID-19 – Severe Infection Could Cause Long-Term Innate Immune System Changes

Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a macrophage, among the natural immune cells originated from monocytes. Credit: NIAID.
In the monocytes of individuals recuperating from severe COVID-19, the changes in gene expression led the cells to drain greater amounts of molecules called inflammatory cytokines than monocytes of individuals who were healthy or had non-COVID-19 health problems. The researchers observed these modifications as much as a year after the participants came down with COVID-19. Due to the small number of study individuals, the scientists could not establish a direct association in between molecular and cellular changes and health results..
Investigating the Role of IL-6.
The private investigators presumed that an inflammatory cytokine called IL-6 may play a role in developing the modifications in gene expression instructions. During recovery, these individuals and mice had lower levels of transformed stem cell gene-expression instructions, monocyte production, and inflammatory cytokine production than topics that didnt get the antibody.
Conclusion and Implications.
These findings recommend that SARS-CoV-2 can cause changes in gene expression that eventually improve the production of inflammatory cytokines, and one kind of those cytokines perpetuates the procedure by inducing these modifications in stem cells even after the health problem is over. Additionally, the findings suggest that early-acting IL-6 is likely a significant chauffeur of long-term swelling in individuals with serious COVID-19.
These findings shed light on the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 infection and might offer new leads for therapies. The results likewise highlight the importance of keeping up to date with advised COVID-19 vaccines, which are proven to secure versus serious health problem, hospitalization, and death.
Referral: “Epigenetic memory of coronavirus infection in natural immune cells and their progenitors” by Jin-Gyu Cheong, Arjun Ravishankar, Siddhartha Sharma, Christopher N. Parkhurst, Simon A. Grassmann, Claire K. Wingert, Paoline Laurent, Sai Ma, Lucinda Paddock, Isabella C. Miranda, Emin Onur Karakaslar, Djamel Nehar-Belaid, Asa Thibodeau, Michael J. Bale, Vinay K. Kartha, Jim K. Yee, Minh Y. Mays, Chenyang Jiang, Andrew W. Daman, Alexia Martinez de Paz, Dughan Ahimovic, Victor Ramos, Alexander Lercher, Erik Nielsen, Sergio Alvarez-Mulett, Ling Zheng, Andrew Earl, Alisha Yallowitz, Lexi Robbins, Elyse LaFond, Karissa L. Weidman, Sabrina Racine-Brzostek, He S. Yang, David R. Price, Louise Leyre, André F. Rendeiro, Hiranmayi Ravichandran, Junbum Kim, Alain C. Borczuk, Charles M. Rice, R. Brad Jones, Edward J. Schenck, Robert J. Kaner, Amy Chadburn, Zhen Zhao, Virginia Pascual, Olivier Elemento, Robert E. Schwartz, Jason D. Buenrostro, Rachel E. Niec, Franck J. Barrat, Lindsay Lief, Joseph C. Sun, Duygu Ucar and Steven Z. Josefowicz, 18 August 2023, Cell.DOI: 10.1016/ j.cell.2023.07.019.
The research study was moneyed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Severe COVID-19 can cause lasting changes in the natural immune system, potentially discussing why it can affect many organs and trigger prolonged inflammation in some people, according to a recent study. The research study discovered modifications in blood-forming stem cells in people recuperating from COVID-19 that increase the production of inflammatory cytokines. One such cytokine, IL-6, might be an essential chauffeur behind these changes, and its early intervention might reduce its effects.
Research study moneyed by NIH links modifications in inflammatory protein and highlights the significance of vaccinations.
A recent study supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a branch of the National Institutes of Health, recommends that severe cases of COVID-19 might result in relentless modifications in the innate body immune system, our bodys preliminary barrier against disease-causing agents. This might clarify the factors behind the extensive organ damage observed in the disease and the raised swelling levels in people experiencing long COVID. The research study was just recently released in the journal Cell.
Research Study Methodology and Findings
Scientists led by Steven Z. Josefowicz, Ph.D., of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City analyzed immune cells and particles in blood samples from 38 people recuperating from extreme COVID-19 and other extreme illnesses, along with from 19 healthy people. Notably, the researchers established a new strategy for collecting, concentrating, and identifying very unusual blood-forming stem cells that flow in the blood, eliminating the requirement to extract such cells from bone marrow..
In these uncommon stem cells– the moms and dads of immune-system cells– drawn from individuals recuperating from COVID-19, the scientists determined modifications in the instructions for which genes got switched on or off. These modifications were passed down to child cells, leading them to improve the production of immune cells called monocytes.

Serious COVID-19 can lead to long lasting modifications in the innate immune system, potentially describing why it can impact various organs and cause extended swelling in some people, according to a current study. The research study found changes in blood-forming stem cells in individuals recuperating from COVID-19 that increase the production of inflammatory cytokines. A recent research study supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a branch of the National Institutes of Health, suggests that extreme cases of COVID-19 may lead to persistent modifications in the innate immune system, our bodys initial barrier against disease-causing agents. In the monocytes of individuals recuperating from serious COVID-19, the changes in gene expression led the cells to pump out higher amounts of particles called inflammatory cytokines than monocytes of people who were healthy or had non-COVID-19 diseases. The researchers observed these modifications as much as a year after the participants came down with COVID-19.