Find out the reason why the end of COVID-19 still hurts people-Life Health

A new animal study has provided important insights into how the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 – which can lead to long-term human pain.

Many people have the syndrome COVID-19 prolongation indicates, experiencing sensory abnormalities, including various forms of pain

This new finding also points to a potential therapy for persistent COVID-19-related pain.

Biochemical changes due to COVID-19 in dorsal root ganglia

“A significant number of people with persistent COVID-19 syndrome report sensory abnormalities, including various forms of pain. We therefore used RNA sequencing to obtain what A brief look at the biochemical changes that the virus SARS-CoV-2 caused in a structure that transmits pain – called the dorsal root ganglia,” said Dr Randal Serafini of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, who participated in the study.

Using a guinea pig model infected with SARS-CoV-2, the researchers found that the infection leaves gene signatures in the dorsal basal ganglia that persist even after the virus has cleared from the body. . This signature corresponds to gene expression patterns seen in pain caused by other conditions.

The researchers observed that guinea pigs infected with SARS-CoV-2 exhibited slight sensitivity to touch shortly after infection, which worsened over time, up to 30 days. The researchers then performed similar experiments with the influenza A virus to determine if other RNA viruses promoted similar responses.

In contrast to SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A causes early, more severe hypersensitivity but fades after 4 days of infection. Analysis of gene expression patterns in the dorsal root ganglia revealed that SARS-CoV-2 induced more pronounced alterations in the expression levels of genes involved in neuron-specific signaling pathways. compared with the flu.

Additional experiments showed that 4 weeks post-disease recovery, influenza-infected guinea pigs showed no signs of long-term susceptibility while guinea pigs infected with SARS-CoV-2 exhibited more severe hypersensitivity, reflecting more severe hypersensitivity. chronic pain.

Hamsters that have recovered from SARS-CoV-2 have the same gene expression markers as mice affected by pain from inflammation or nerve injury.

Potential to find effective pain management solutions

To gain insight into the molecular mechanism involved in altered pain sensitivity in hamsters infected with SARS-CoV-2, the researchers applied bioinformatics analyzes to the gene expression data. that they obtained. The analysis predicts that SARS-CoV-2 regulates the activity of several previously identified pain regulators and a protein known as interleukin enhancing binding factor 3 (ILF3).

This downregulation occurred at times when pain sensations in guinea pigs infected with SARS-CoV-2 were very mild, despite severe systemic inflammation. In contrast, hypersensitivity caused by Influenza A is severe at these times. ILF3 has not yet been studied in the context of pain but is a potent cancer regulator.

Based on these findings, the researchers hypothesized that mimicking the acute effects of ILF3 could be considered a novel pain treatment strategy.

To test it, the researchers used a clinically tested anti-cancer drug that inhibits ILF3 activity.

They found that it was actually very effective at treating pain in a mouse model of localized inflammation.

“ILF3 inhibitors can target pain mechanisms specific to patient COVID-19, both acute and chronic. Interestingly, we found several cancer-associated proteins to appear as predicted pain targets, which is exciting because many drugs have been developed against some of these proteins and have been tried. clinical trial. If we can re-use these drugs, it could significantly cut down on therapy development time,” said Dr Serafini.

The researchers are working to identify other compounds that could be substituted while also monitoring new compounds that may inhibit ILF3 activity.

“Our findings may lead to new therapies for patients with acute and persistent COVID-19 and other painful conditions. Our study also shows that SARS-CoV-2 causes long-term effects on the body in new ways, further clarifying why people should try to avoid getting infected,” said Dr. Serafini.