Blood may not really be the right place to look for detection of COVID-19: Research

A study that opens up new avenues for early drug interventions has found that it is the nose where the Coronavirus first enters through. It could be possible to treat the virus at the initial stage before letting the virus a deadly turn. According to the researchers of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, they have collected samples from the nasal swabs of 35 adults with COVID-19 from April to September last year, ranging from mildly symptomatic to critically ill.

They also got swabs from 17 control subjects and six patients who were using breathing aid but did not have coronavirus. "Many studies looking for risk predictors have looked for signatures in the blood, but blood may not really be the right place to look," said the researcher, Jose Ordovas-Montanes.

According to the research published in the Journal Cell, the researchers sequenced the RNA in each cell, one cell at a time. The RNA data allowed the team to pinpoint which cells were present, which contained RNA originating from the virus — an indication of infection — and which genes the cells were turning on and off in response. It soon became clear that the epithelial cells lining the nose and throat undergo major changes in the presence of SARS-CoV-2. 

Early antiviral response in the nose may determine the severity of covid, says Study

"The team found SARS-CoV-2 RNA in a diverse range of cell types, including immature ciliated cells and specific subtypes of secretory cells, goblet cells, and squamous cells. The infected cells, as compared with uninfected “bystander” cells, had more genes turned on that are involved in a productive response to infection," read the published journal report. "Everyone with severe COVID-19 had a blunted interferon response early on in their epithelial cells, and were never able to ramp up a defence,” says Ordovas-Montanes. "Having the right amount of interferon at the right time could be at the crux of dealing with SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses." While concluding the findings, the researchers said, "Having the right amount of interferon at the right time could be at the crux of dealing with SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses."

(With inputs from research published- journal Cell)

(Image Credit: PTI)