King’s College London’s research may shed light on novel strategies for treating and preventing severe coronavirus infections.

Researchers at King’s College London analyzed over 3,000 proteins to determine if any are causally associated to the development of severe Covid-19 infection in an effort to uncover parameters that would favor Covid infection.

This is the first time such a huge number of proteins have been looked at to see if they have a link to Covid-19.

It’s significant because the discoveries could lead to novel treatments and prevention strategies for severe cases.

So far, researchers have found eight proteins that may protect against severe Covid-19 and six that may raise the chance of a severe case.

Our blood types are determined by one of the proteins, ABO, which raises the risk of severe Covid-19.

Is it true that your blood group determines whether you develop a severe disease?

Researchers found potential targets for medicines that could aid in the treatment of severe Covid-19 by studying this array of proteins.

“We have used a purely genetic approach to investigate a large number of blood proteins, and established that a handful have causal links to the development of severe Covid,” explains Dr. Alish Palmos, co-first author, adding “Homing in on this group of proteins is a vital first step in discovering potentially valuable targets for development of new treatments.”

Furthermore, the researchers discovered eight proteins that reduced the likelihood of hospitalization or respiratory support/death, as well as six proteins that increased the risk.

They even differentiated between proteins associated with hospitalization and those associated with the need for ventilators.

The ABO enzyme, which determines a person’s blood group, was found to be directly associated with an increased likelihood of hospitalization and the requirement for a ventilator. This backs up previous research that showed a link between blood groups and a higher risk of death.

There is an increased prevalence of blood group A among Covid-19-positive individuals, suggesting that this blood type merits further investigation.

“What we have done in our study is provide,” adds Professor Gerome Breen, co-first author, “a shortlist for the next stage of research.

“Out of thousands of blood proteins we have whittled it down to about 14 that have some form of causal connection to the risk of severe Covid-19, and present a potentially important avenue for further research to better understand the mechanisms behind the disease, with the ultimate aim of developing new treatments but potentially also preventative therapies.”

Three “adhesion” molecules were also discovered to be causally connected to a lower incidence of hospitalization.

Due to the fact that these adhesion molecules mediate contact between immune cells and blood vessels, earlier research has suggested that late-stage Covid-19 is a disease affecting blood vessel linings.

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