A signalling molecule that helps to kick-start inflammation in the lungs could play a key part in aggravating some long COVID symptoms, finds a study that analysed lung samples from people with the condition. The findings, published in Science Translational Medicine on 17 July1, could help scientists to develop more effective treatments for long COVID, which causes symptoms such as brain fog, fatigue, breathlessness and lung damage and can persist for months or years after infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19. By inhibiting the molecule ' called interferon gamma (IFN-') ' in mice with COVID-19, 'we were able to dampen the chronic conditions after infection', says study co-author Jie Sun, an immunology researcher at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. 'In the future, we could target this pathway for potential treatment of long COVID'. IFN-' is one of many proteins that the body releases to fight infections. When released by white blood cells known as T...
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