Researchers Link Severe Covid Infection To Blood Group

Researchers have analyzed several thousand proteins to identify the causal link between them and the increased risk of severe covid infection. Among them, they have identified about six proteins that can increase the risk of covid infection. Surprisingly, the researchers also detected about eight proteins that increase the protection from severe covid infection.

Researchers Link Severe Covid Infection To Blood Group

Interestingly, the ABO protein that increased the risk of severe covid actually determines the blood groups. This has given rise to the opinion that people from some blood groups may be more vulnerable to severe covid infection. This can open up new avenues for treating covid infections in the future.

It is important to focus on which blood proteins are linked to increased risk of covid and how they function to develop better treatment options. In this way, new drugs that target such proteins can be developed, or the existing drugs can be modified to target those proteins. The researchers used genetic methods to conduct the research as measuring protein levels from blood samples is not possible in every situation.

The Mendelian randomization method was used to assess the causal link between the increased risk of covid infection and the overall severity of the condition. The researchers used genetic datasets for this purpose as they give a better understanding of the risk of infection and severity of infection in a large number of people.

For assessing the severity of covid infection, the researchers took into consideration two important factors. The first level of severity was determined with hospitalization, and the next one was associated with the need for ventilator support or death due to infection. The study showed the causal link between the increased risk of covid infection and the presence of six proteins in the blood samples. Similarly, about eight other proteins offered significant protection from severe infection, according to researchers.

The interesting outcome of the study was that there was some distinction in the type of protein linked with the severity level of infection. While some proteins increased the risk of hospitalization, few others increased the chances of death or severe infection. However, the ABO protein was associated with both levels of severity, and it increased the risk of both hospitalization and death in covid patients.

However, the study does not directly link particular blood groups with an increased risk of severe covid infection. But they suggest that blood group A people should be the best candidates for further research in this area as earlier studies have also indicated similar results.

Interestingly, the research has also identified a few adhesion molecules that can reduce the risk of severe covid infection. These molecules help to reduce the chances of severe infection in different stages. In this way, the study has opened the door for scientists to work on new drugs that target these specific proteins and molecules in the body. This can improve the existing treatment options available to treat covid patients.

The overall outcome of the research suggests a causal link between about 14 proteins and an increased risk of severe covid infection. This research is particularly beneficial for drug companies as they can use the data to investigate new treatment options for covid infection further. Apart from that, the existing drugs can be modified in certain ways to target the specific proteins that are linked with an increased risk of covid infection. In this way, the overall efficiency of the drugs can be improved by a significant margin in the long run. The drugs can also be modified to prevent severe infection in the first place, and this can be used to treat the early stages of infection.