• Home
  • About
  • Contact us
Tech News, Magazine & Review WordPress Theme 2017
  • Computing
  • Entertainment
  • Gaming
  • Mobile
  • Science
  • Security
  • Services
  • Software
  • Space
No Result
View All Result
  • Computing
  • Entertainment
  • Gaming
  • Mobile
  • Science
  • Security
  • Services
  • Software
  • Space
Technovanguard — Be at the forefront of technology news
No Result
View All Result

The Coronavirus Can Infect and Possibly Hide in Fat Cells, Study Finds

Justin Rowell by Justin Rowell
29.09.2022
Home Science

An electron microscopic image of a negatively stained particle of SARS-CoV-2.Image: Cynthia S. Goldsmith and A. Tamin/CDC

Scientists at Stanford University and elsewhere say they’ve found evidence that the virus that causes covid-19 can infect fat cells as well as the immune cells that reside in fat tissue. The findings, which have yet to be formally peer-reviewed and published, could provide a clue as to why people living with obesity are at higher risk of severe covid-19 and other complications.

Age is the largest risk factor for developing a severe infection from the coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2. But even younger people with other health conditions have a heightened risk as well, including younger people with obesity (defined as having a body mass index over 30). People with obesity not only seem to have a higher risk of serious illness and death but possibly a higher risk of chronic symptoms reported after infection, commonly known as long covid. According to modeling data cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity may have contributed to as many as 30% of covid-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. last year.

It’s less clear why this added risk exists, though. People with obesity are more likely to have type 2 diabetes, for instance, itself a risk factor for severe covid-19, but even those without diabetes appear to have a higher risk. Obesity is also associated with low-grade chronic inflammation, which may impair the immune system’s response to things like the coronavirus. Yet there may be other, social factors possibly involved, such as the discrimination and stigma often experienced by those with obesity. This bias, especially from the medical profession, could make people reluctant to see doctors or hospitals when initially sick or could impact the quality of care they receive once there.

On the biological side of things, there has been research suggesting that the coronavirus can infect fat cells—research that made the authors of this study curious enough to look further.

The team collected samples of fat tissue from people that underwent bariatric surgery, then saw what would happen when they exposed that tissue to the coronavirus. They found that mature fat cells, also known as adipocytes, and macrophages—immune cells that detect germs, signal the presence of infection, and even swallow pathogens whole sometimes—could be successfully infected by SARS-CoV-2. This infection then appeared to set off a strong inflammatory response, involving the production of chemicals called cytokines that have been associated with severe covid-19. Precursor fat cells, or preadipocytes, weren’t infected by the virus, but they too became involved in stoking this inflammation. Lastly, they were able to find RNA traces of the coronavirus in fat tissue collected from people who had died from covid-19 and evidence of inflammation there as well.

Save $59Apple AirPods

Turn up the volume

The latest AirPods 3 and Pro are on sale, but Apple's 2nd Generation AirPods—though getting older by the day—bring the heat with a 37% discount.

Buy AirPods 2 for $100 at Amazon

The study’s results were released in October on the preprint website bioRxiv, meaning they haven’t gone through the typical peer-review process, which is important for vetting any piece of research. So their conclusions should be viewed with extra caution. But if validated with further studies, it could help at least partly explain the link between obesity and severe covid-19.

“This could well be contributing to severe disease,” senior author, Catherine Blish, an immunologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine, told the New York Times. “We’re seeing the same inflammatory cytokines that I see in the blood of the really sick patients being produced in response to infection of those tissues.”

The findings could even have implications beyond the initial burst of illness caused by covid-19. “If adipose cells constitute a reservoir for viral infection, obesity may contribute not only to severe acute disease, but also to long-covid syndrome,” the authors noted in their paper.

For now, though, more research has to be done to suss out the role, if any, that fat cells infected by the coronavirus can have in causing illness.


Next Post
Microsoft Makes Breakthrough in the Quest to Use DNA as Data Storage

Microsoft Makes Breakthrough in the Quest to Use DNA as Data Storage

Recommended.

How Phishers Are Slinking Their Links Into LinkedIn

How Phishers Are Slinking Their Links Into LinkedIn

29.09.2022
The promise and challenge of Web3 gaming

The promise and challenge of Web3 gaming

29.09.2022

Trending.

ShiftDown reduces the load of processes on Windows to speed things up

ShiftDown reduces the load of processes on Windows to speed things up

29.09.2022

The most important humanitarian problems to be solved

29.09.2022
Deforestation and storms in West Africa

Deforestation and storms in West Africa

29.09.2022
Netflix’s movie Hilda and the Mountain King answers the series’ biggest mysteries

Netflix’s movie Hilda and the Mountain King answers the series’ biggest mysteries

29.09.2022
What is the Arecibo Message?

What is the Arecibo Message?

29.09.2022
Technovanguard — Be at the forefront of technology news

Technovanguard - The latest news from the world of IT and modern technologies.

Categories

  • Computing
  • Entertainment
  • Gaming
  • Internet
  • Mobile
  • Science
  • Security
  • Services
  • Software
  • Space
  • Без рубрики

Tags

best bitcoin casino best bitcoin gambling site best crypto casino bitcoin gambling site btc casino FEATUREDNEWS linkedin connection message linkedin connection request template linkedin connect message examples linkedin networking message template linkedin sales message top bitcoin casinos

Recent News

How to Preserve Your Capital in a Tightened Regulatory Environment

How to Preserve Your Capital in a Tightened Regulatory Environment

27.11.2023
Tech Industry Faces Unprecedented Workforce Challenges as Layoffs Surpass 2022 Numbers

Tech Industry Faces Unprecedented Workforce Challenges as Layoffs Surpass 2022 Numbers

10.11.2023
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact us

© 2021 technovanguard.com. Submit news release

No Result
View All Result
  • Computing
  • Entertainment
  • Gaming
  • Mobile
  • Science
  • Security
  • Services
  • Software
  • Space

© 2021 technovanguard.com. Submit news release