Some people who have suffered by COVID-19 never feel completely 100%, stuck in the throes of a medical mystery centered on an altered immune system. Long Covid is not yet fully understood, but scientists approach the crucial clues by studying a similar phenomenon in cats.
A new study published in Translational medicine of stem cells Explains how a relatively rare feline disease is almost like a CAT version of Long Cavid. Similar to the severe infections of coronavirus in humans, feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) sends the immune system of cats out of Kilter. However, therapy involving mesenchymal stromal cells has proven to be promising in the restoration of immune function in cats, which can be used as a plan for long research.
A serious feline disease
FIP in cats begins like feline coronavirus, a common viral infection that infects the cells that line the intestines of a cat and cause light stomach problems. But a mixture of genetic and environmental circumstances can sometimes change the behavior of the virus and cause generalized infection.
This takes the form of wet FIP (where the liquid accumulates in the chest or belly of a cat) or dry FIP (where the liquid does not accumulate but the inflammation always affects the organs). In both cases, FIP induces fever, organ problems and a reduction in significant immune cells. It ultimately affects around 2% of cats and is particularly common in young cats in shelters.
FIP was mainly fatal in cats for years, but an antiviral agent called GS-441524 Now has made it possible to cure cats with the disease. The drug was developed for the first time in 2018 and was finally made available in the United States in 2024.
Find out more: What is long and long and what are the symptoms?
FIP and Long
Scientists have not yet been able to carefully study cats after their FIP recovery, but enlarged lymph nodes have been observed in some of these cats, indicating that their immune system continues to overexate, as if an infection was still present.
The same thing happens in people with long which experience immune dysfunction, persistent activation of immune cells and the production of autoimmune antibodies.
Scientists are not exactly some, why those who have long confronted the persistent problems of weeks, months or even years after contracting COVID-19. A few theories have tried to give meaning to the mystery: it could be that viral antigens and viral RNA remain in the tissues of the body, or that Covid-19 awakens other dormant viruses in the body.
Cell therapy with rescue
The inversion of immune dysfunction after a viral infection may be possible with mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC), which are present in almost all tissues and can be used in therapeutic applications that modulate the immune system.
“Even if you treat the infection with antivirals, your immune system, often, will still not return to normal or where it was before infection,” said the corresponding author Amir Kol, professor at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, in a statement. “It could have lasting effects on your health, and this study shows that the MSC can help.”
The researchers involved in the new study tested cell therapy on cats with extended lymph nodes to assess the end of their immune systems. In a clinical trial, a group of cats received antiviral drugs as well as MSC infusions, while a second group received antiviral drugs and placebo infusions.
According to the researchers, cats treated with MSC therapy had fewer T and B cells that are too active (which are associated with overmultiplied) and more regulatory T cells (which can calm the immune system). These cats have also formed long -term “memory” cells which are essential to protect the body in the future.
In addition to helping cats with long -term problems caused by FIP, these results could also provide information on viruses with similar effects in humans, as COVID 19.
“It is important to understand that many pets suffer from diseases similar to human diseases,” Kol said. “Veterinary medicine is a wonderful platform to lead a translational science that helps animals and humans.”
This article does not offer medical advice and should be used for information purposes only.
Find out more: Variant cocovated nb.1.8.1 can cause a throat of razor blade, but it is not as serious as past variants
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Jack Knudson is a deputy editor -in -chief to discover with a strong interest in environmental sciences and history. Before joining Discover in 2023, he studied journalism at the Ohio University Scripps College of Communication and previously interned at recycling Today Magazine
