Low type I interferon response in COVID‑19 patients: Interferon response may be a potential treatment for COVID‑19
Year: 2021
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Interferons (IFN) are antiviral cytokines that mitigate the effects of invading viruses early on during the infection process. SARS-CoV and MERS induce weak IFN responses; hence, the clinical trials which included recombinant IFN accompanied with other antiviral drugs exhibited improved results in terms of shortening the duration of illness. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the type I IFN response in COVID-19 patients to determine whether it is sufficient to eliminate or reduce the severity of the infection, and whether it can be recommended as a potential therapy. Total RNA samples were converted to cDNA and used as templates to evaluate the gene expression levels of IFN regulatory factor (IRF)3 and IFN-β in COVID-19 patients or control. The results showed that IRF3 gene expression was upregulated ~250-fold compared with the negative samples. In contrast, IFN-β expression increased slightly in COVID-19 patients. Consistent with other coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV and MERS, COVID-19 infection does not induce an efficient IFN response to reduce the severity of the virus. This may be attributed to an incomplete response of IRF3 in activating the IFN-β promoter in the infected patients. The results suggest IFN-β or α may be used as potential treatments.
Source: Biomedical Reports
DOI: 10.3892/br.2021.1419
Authors: Ahmed Salman, Mohammed Waheed, Akeel Ali‑Αbdulsahib, Zeenah Atwan
Institutions: Ministry of Health, University of Basrah
Language: English
Subfield: Immunology
Field: Immunology and Microbiology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W3133699800