“Its effects may extend for life” … a new study on...

A new study, conducted by researchers at Emory University in the US, found that immune cells that survivors of the Corona virus develop in an attempt to fight the infection may turn against it and attack healthy tissues in the body, and this explains the emergence of long-term symptoms of the virus, according to a newspaper The New York Times.

The researchers said that what happens in some cases of corona is similar to what happens in some diseases, such as autoantibodies.

They emphasized that the body’s immune system in these patients turned to attacking itself instead of the virus, and it produces particles called “autoantibodies” that target the genetic material from human cells, instead of the virus.

They added that this misleading immune response may exacerbate the severe case of Covid-19, and explain the reason for long suffering from people, even after their bodies get rid of the virus.

The researchers explained that the results have important implications for treatment, stressing that by using current tests that can detect antibodies, doctors can identify patients who may benefit from treatments used for SLE and Rheumatoid Arthritis.

“It is possible that giving patients more doses of these drugs and expecting better outcomes,” said Matthew Woodruff, an immunologist at Emory University in Atlanta and lead author of this work.

In the study, researchers performed a set of blood tests on 52 hospitalized coronavirus patients who were in “severe” or “critical” health in the Atlanta area.

Researchers found autoantibodies that recognize DNA in nearly half of the patients, and they also found antibodies to a protein called rheumatoid factor and other antibodies that aid in blood clotting.

Some of the autoantibodies that the researchers have identified are linked to blood flow problems, said Ann Marshak Rothstein, an immunologist and lupus expert at the University of Massachusetts. “.

She said that if autoantibodies turn out to be long-lasting, it could lead to persistent, and even lifelong, problems for survivors of the virus.