Covid, here is the secret of deadly forms

In the more serious cases of Covid the lungs suffer extreme damage. In these patients the virus causes potentially fatal effects such as pneumonia, extensive inflammation, acute respiratory distress syndrome. The underlying mechanism remained unclear: a gap in knowledge about Sars-CoV-2, now filled by one study from Columbia University published in ‘Nature Communications’. Researchers have discovered that ferroptosis, a form of cell death that could become a target for new life-saving treatments, is behind the lethal attack of the pandemic coronavirus on the lungs. “Countering ferroptosis with targeted drug candidates – the scientists suggest – could improve the outcomes of the most severe Covid infection”.

There ferroptosis was first described in 2012 by Brent Stockwell, who is also one of the lead authors of the new work. This is “an unusual type of cell death”, mediated by iron, “in which cells die because their outer layers of fat collapse”, the researchers explain. Ferroptosis”differs from the more common form of cell death, which occurs both in pathological contexts and in normal processes such as aging and involves cells” themselves, “which chop up the molecules inside them” and in practice commit suicide. Ferroptosis in some cases “it is instrumental to normal body processes”, but in others “it can attack and kill healthy cells”. It happens for example “in patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s and ALS”.

This mechanismscientists further illustrate, can be exploited in two ways. On the one hand, “intentionally inducing ferroptosis could counteract pathologies such as cancer” which, as is known, is associated with dangerous uncontrolled cell proliferation. On the other hand, “the ability to inhibit ferroptosis could offer doctors new ways to fight cell death when it should not occur, as in the case of the lung disease Covid-19.” The new work “he adds information crucial to our understanding of how Covid affects the body and will significantly improve our ability to fight potentially lethal forms of the disease“, says Stockwell. “We hope – the author hopes – that these important discoveries can improve our ability to deal with this pernicious disease which, in too many cases, still kills”.