Severe COVID-19 Disables Disease-Fighting Immune Circuit
Patients with severe COVID-19 produce antibodies that paradoxically shut down their immune system’s virus-fighting response just when they need it most, according to new UC San Francisco research published in
Nature.
Scientists believe this overzealous antibody response is an inappropriate engagement of an ancient biological feedback circuit whose real function is to help the body tamp down levels of immune signaling molecules called interferons, to modulate the immune response once a viral infection is under control.
Interferons help to stop a cell’s protein-making machinery, so viruses can’t hijack it to make copies of themselves. But in patients with severe COVID-19, antibodies that block the effects of interferons appear prematurely, removing the cells’ defenses while the infection is still raging.