An “antibody signature” can help identify patients who are at risk of developing Long covid, with debilitating symptoms that can last for many months. This is the result obtained by researchers from the University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland, who analyzed blood samples from covid patients. The study found that low levels of some antibodies are more common in patients who developed Long Covid syndrome than in those who healed faster and with fewer complications.
The antibody levels – matched to patients’ age, symptom pattern, and concomitant asthma – allowed doctors to predict whether subjects would have a medium, high, or very high risk of developing Long Covid. “Overall, we believe our findings can help identify patients who are at high risk of developing Long Covid quickly. This will facilitate research, understanding and development of targeted treatments for Long Covid,” he said. said Onur Boyman, professor of immunology who conducted the research published in Nature Communication, as reported by the Guardian.
The researchers looked at the cases of 175 people who tested positive and 40 volunteers in good health. Scientists monitored the picture of 134 positive subjects and followed them for a year after the initial infection. Analysis of blood samples showed that Long covid subjects tended to have low levels of IgM and IgG3 antibodies. The researchers looked at the antibody data, a sort of ‘signature’, and crossed them with the age of the patients and the possible concomitance of asthma to indicate the risk of developing Long covid. Overall, low IgM and IgG3 levels – associated with the presence of asthma – are synonymous with very high risk. If these indicators are considered, it is possible to identify subjects who must be monitored with particular attention and who, if necessary, must be protected with timely vaccination.
The study is a first step, as Professor Claire Steves of King’s College London notes. “We need to deepen and broaden the research” to understand “how to prevent” Long covid.
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