A recent study by Boston University Choban researchers revealed that lung endothelial cells, which line the blood vessels, have a low immune response during the early stages of COVID-19 infection in a preclinical model. Additionally, the researchers conducted a novel analysis of all genes expressed in purified endothelial cells. This study comes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in over 700 million infections and 7 million deaths worldwide. While age is known to be a risk factor for severe COVID-19, the underlying reasons for this connection are still not fully understood.The School of Medicine at Ian & Avedisian has found that lung endothelial cells have a low immune response during the early stages of COVID-19 infection, based on a preclinical model. They also conducted an analysis of all genes expressed in purified endothelial cells, which has never been done before. The research indicates that older individuals are at a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 due to an increased susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection with age. Understanding the age-dependent pathological changes during SARS-CoV-2 infection is crucial for effectively safeguarding against the virus.”Protecting vulnerable populations is essential,” said Markus Bosmann, MD, who is the corresponding author and an associate professor of medicine, pathology, and laboratory medicine at the school.
The researchers examined four different groups of endothelial cell conditions that were susceptible to SARS-CoV-2. The first two groups, which included young and old models, served as uninfected controls. The other two groups, also consisting of young and old models, were infected with SARS-CoV-2. Endothelial cells from all conditions were isolated after two days, and their transcriptomes (the genes they expressed) were analyzed and classified as biological programs of the host response. The severity of the clinical condition was then determined based on these findings.The researchers monitored infection and discovered that it was more severe in older individuals. Bosmann stated that a weakened immune system plays a significant role in the development of endothelial dysfunction in older people with COVID-19. Although these findings do not have immediate implications for treating COVID-19, targeting these immune pathways in endothelial cells may have prognostic and therapeutic benefits. Further studies, including analyzing these functional changes at a single-cell level, are necessary. These findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology.
