PARIS, Oct. 7 (Benin News) –
Some people become seriously ill with COVID-19, while others have no symptoms. The answer may lie in proteins to which the immune system has been exposed before. A recent study published in the open access journal “Frontiers in Immunology” concludes that common foods, vaccines, bacteria and viruses can prepare our immune system to attack SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the virus. Covid-19.
All of these agents contain proteins similar to those present in SARS-CoV-2. Exposure to these proteins can therefore cause our immune system to react when it encounters the virus. This study paves the way for new immunotherapies or vaccines to increase immunity against Covid-19.
SARS-CoV-2 is new, and the pandemic may make it look like an invader from another planet. However, it actually shares characteristics with many existing biological molecules. As a member of the coronavirus family, SARS-CoV-2 shares many characteristics with other viruses, but the similarities don’t end there. Proteins found in bacteria, human cells, vaccines, and even foods may bear similarities to SARS-CoV-2. The researchers in this latest study hypothesize that the similarities between SARS-CoV-2 and other common proteins may affect our susceptibility to the virus.
When the body is attacked by a pathogen, such as a virus or bacteria, it triggers an immune response that includes antibodies. These immune proteins attach to specific parts of the pathogen and contribute to its destruction. After the initial infection is gone, white blood cells called memory T and B cells retain a memory of the pathogen, or at least parts of its structure. These cells will be ready to mount an immune response very quickly if they encounter the pathogen again.
The researchers wondered if this “immune memory” for proteins we have encountered in the past could be the source of immune resistance and lower susceptibility to Covid-19? To begin to test this hypothesis, they investigated whether antibodies that target proteins from the SARS-CoV-2 virus could also bind to proteins from other agents, such as foods or common bacteria.
They tested the ability of these antibodies to bind to 180 different proteins from common foods, two different vaccines, and 15 bacterial and viral proteins. The antibodies reacted most strongly with a common intestinal bacterium called “E. faecalis” and with a vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. Interestingly, they also reacted most strongly to proteins found in common foods, such as broccoli, toasted almonds, pork, cashews, milk, soy, and pineapple.
Unfortunately, they point out that you probably can’t eat to immunize yourself against COVID-19. An “immunity” against a type of food, for example, is generally characterized by a food allergy. “In general, only people with leaky gut can produce antibodies against foods, so I wouldn’t recommend eating foods that give you leaky gut because it will give you a whole new set of problems,” says Dr. Aristo Vodjani of Cyrex Laboratories in Arizona, lead author of the study.
Indeed, the researchers clarify that while these agents might offer some protection against SARS-CoV-2, they do not anticipate that they can replace current vaccines. Furthermore, further testing is needed to confirm that these proteins do confer some protection and, if so, to determine whether this protection is through a short-lived antibody response or a longer-term cellular memory response.
The findings may shed light on our varying responses to COVID-19 infection. If research continues, these findings could lead to more effective treatments or better vaccines for the virus. Another application could be to assess an individual’s susceptibility to the virus even before they are infected.