Study: Covid - 19 Treatable By Curbing Proteins


Study: COVID-19 treatable by curbing proteins

A Japanese research team says serious pneumonia symptoms caused by the coronavirus may be treatable by curbing the function of certain proteins related to the immune system.

The study was jointly led by Hirano Toshio, president of the National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, and Professor Murakami Masaaki of Hokkaido University.

The researchers say human cells infected with the virus set off an immune-system mechanism producing large amounts of interleukin-6 and other proteins. This leads to acute respiratory symptoms.

About 20 percent of those infected with the virus are said to suffer serious symptoms, in some cases leading to death from respiratory failure.

The team says such severe symptoms may be treatable by inhibiting the mechanism involving interleukin-6.

A drug that blocks the mechanism is already widely administered for rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions.

Pharmaceutical companies say they are conducting a clinical program to see if it works against coronavirus symptoms.

Hirano says he is pinning his hopes on the results of the trials. His group published its paper in the online edition of US science magazine Immunity.