Dealing with the infrastructure crisis was probably not ‘sufficient’ in health facilities, where the genetic complications have altogether set new challenges for the healthcare providers. Despite the fact, ample of researches and studies are being carried out daily so as to combat the pandemic. As of now, patients undergoing severe COVID-19 infections are deemed to be at some relief owing to the new discoveries in terms of neutrophils.
As claimed by the two new studies released in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM)- neutrophils, being the sticky webs of DNA released from immune cells may cause much of the tissue impairment linked with severe infections of COVID-19. The research, conducted by independent groups in Belgium and Brazil, has found out that hindering the release of such DNA webs can prove to be a new therapeutic target for the management of severe forms of COVID-19 cases.
In one of the new studies, a research team from Liege University’s GIGA Institute led by Thomas Marichal, Cécile Oury, and Philippe Delvenne examined the lungs of patients who had succumbed to COVID-19 and found large numbers of NETs or the neutrophil extracellular traps dispersed throughout the organ. The researchers saw many NETs in the airway compartment, where they often appeared to almost completely obstruct the small bronchioles and alveoli that mediate gas exchange. NETs were also formed at sites of inflammation located in the interstitial compartment between the alveoli and blood vessels, and could even be seen in the blood vessels themselves near tiny blood clots known as micro-thrombi that can restrict blood flow through the lungs and are a common pathological feature of severe COVID-19 patients.
“NETs can form a platform for the adhesion of platelets and other blood-clotting factors, but whether NETs actually contribute to the formation of COVID-19-associated pulmonary micro-thrombi will require further investigation,” says Marichal. “Altogether, our study supports the idea that targeting NETs in COVID-19 patients may help the clinical management of severe forms of COVID-19 by alleviating thrombotic events, excessive tissue-damaging inflammation, fibrosis, and airway obstruction.”
