2024-01-22 00:31:12
This study reveals how viral infections interact with our bodies
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Release date: January 22, 2024
This study reveals how viral infections interact with our bodies
Much of what we know about viral respiratory infections like COVID-19 and influenza comes from studies of symptomatic patients. Now, a new longitudinal study of symptomatic, asymptomatic and mild infections by Columbia University researchers reveals how our bodies respond to these infections at the molecular level. They report the discovery of a gene expression signature that distinguishes symptomatic from asymptomatic infections and positive asymptomatic individuals from negative individuals.
This study presents a complex picture of how several common respiratory viruses interact with the human body, each other, and common respiratory bacteria. The findings are available as an interactive web tool (link is external and opens in a new window) for scientists to generate and test new hypotheses, according to a new paper published in the journal PLoS Biology Peer-reviewed article.
Over 19 months, 214 volunteers participated in the Manhattan Virome Study, providing nasal swab samples that were analyzed via molecular testing (RNA-seq and qPCR) as well as daily individual symptom reports and demographic information. . Most infections are caused by rhinoviruses and coronaviruses. Only 8% of positive samples contained evidence of co-infection (one case was positive for five different viruses). The study found that influenza causes greater changes in gene expression than other viruses, such as coronaviruses or rhinoviruses. Their findings also hint at a possible link between repeated exposure to pathogens and host responses.
“The recurrence of influenza and coronavirus pandemics underscores the need to better understand The necessity of host-pathogen interactions in respiratory infections.”
“Identifying the main biological pathways by which viruses interact with our bodies is key to developing treatment tools, such as antiviral drugs or vaccines, and to better identifying individuals at risk, whether from seasonal respiratory viruses or emerging pandemic threats,” ” said study co-senior author Dr. Jeffrey Shaman, professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University and interim dean of the Columbia Climate Institute.
An earlier study using data from the same cohort found that reinfections with endemic coronaviruses were not uncommon, even within a year of prior infection. The study found that when reinfection occurred, it was not associated with milder symptoms. Instead, genetic factors may be a greater determinant of infection severity.
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