Severe COVID-19 caused by "senile" interferon response in older patients, researchers suggest
Source : https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/965491
Researchers in Germany have discovered that age-dependent impairments in antiviral interferon proteins underlie the increased susceptibility of older patients to severe COVID-19. The study, published today in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), shows that aged mice infected with SARS-CoV-2 are protected from severe disease by treatment with one of these interferons, IFN-γ.
“Collectively, our data suggest that impaired type I IFN signaling in combination with impaired IFN-γ–mediated immune responses can account for the observed high SARS-CoV-2 disease susceptibility of aged mice, and possibly older humans, too,” Schnepf says.