Study finds association between severity of COVID-19 and shorter telomeres
Patients with severe COVID-19 disease have significantly shorter telomeres, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) in collaboration with the COVID-IFEMA Field Hospital, published in the journal
Aging.
The study, led by Maria A. Blasco and whose first authors are Raúl Sánchez and Ana Guío-Carrión, postulates that telomere shortening as a consequence of the viral infection impedes tissue regeneration and that this is why a significant number of patients suffer prolonged sequelae.
Blasco was already developing a therapy to regenerate lung tissue in pulmonary fibrosis patients; she now believes that this treatment -which should still take at least a year and a half to become available- could also help those who have lung lesions remaining after overcoming COVID-19.
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IMAGE: Human cells with long telomeres (left) and short telomeres (right). Top and lower panels show cells in interphase and in metaphase, respectively. view more
Credit: CNIO
Patients with severe COVID-19 disease have significantly shorter telomeres, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) in collaboration with the COVID-IFEMA Field Hospital, published in the journal
Aging. The study, led by Maria A. Blasco and whose first authors are Raúl Sánchez and Ana Guío-Carrión, postulates that telomere shortening as a consequence of the viral infection impedes tissue regeneration and that this is why a significant number of patients suffer prolonged sequelae.