COVID Spike Protein Alone may Cause Lung Inflammation
by Colleen Fleiss on
April 28, 2021 at 11:22 PM
Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein alone was enough to induce coronavirus-like symptoms, including lung damage and severe lung inflammation, said researchers.
The researchers from Old Dominion University, Virginia, US, developed a genetically modified mouse and injected it with a segment of the spike protein and analysed their response 72 hours later. Another group of mice received only saline to serve as control.
The genetically modified mice exhibited Covid-19-like symptoms that included severe inflammation, an influx of white blood cells into their lungs and evidence of a cytokine storm -- an immune response in which the body starts to attack its own cells and tissues rather than just fighting off the virus. However, the mice that only received saline remained normal, the results showed.