The results showed that blood type has an effect on the rate of Covid-19 transmission. In addition, blood group also determines the severity of when infected.
Phe research published in journals Blood Advances mentioned, the SARS-CoV-2 virus can more easily attach to the airway cells of people with blood type A than blood type B or O.
The results of the study were supported by data on Covid-19 infection during the pandemic. Those of blood group A were more likely to catch it. During treatment, that blood group develops more severe symptoms than any other blood group.
In laboratory experiments, a part of the coronavirus called the receptor binding domain (RBD), which directly binds to cells to trigger infection, also captures the unique molecules associated with type A blood.
“These molecules, known as antigens, appear on the cells lining the respiratory tract, including the lungs,” said study author and doctor of transfusion medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Massachusetts and Emory University in Georgia, dr Sean Stowell, to Live Science.
In theory, the binding structure of DHF could help the corona virus enter and infect airway cells more easily. However, the authors do not know exactly why this happened. “Does this really affect the ability of the virus to enter cells? Does the virus only affect its ability to attach to cells?” said Stowell.
Studying the Two Behaviors of Viruses
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These data are still limited to providing the first physical link between the corona virus and blood type A type. More research is needed to ensure that this difference affects the true likelihood of infection.
Stowel added, since the beginning of the pandemic, several studies have revealed that blood types are often infected with Covid-19. Many mentioned that people with O blood have a lower risk of contracting it than non-O blood.
According to clinical immunologist at Odense University Hospital and The University of Southern Denmark, Torben Barington, people with blood A are also more likely to develop severe symptoms and respiratory failure when contracting the virus. “Several hypotheses have been put forward for this association. But we still need to study the real mechanism,” he said.
The new study hints at an explanation for why SARS-CoV-2 can infect people with blood type A and B even though it’s lower. “We started looking at different parts of the virus and realized that the receptor binding domains looked very similar to an ancient group of proteins called galectins.galectin),” kata Stowell.
Galectins can be found in all multicellular animals and are bound to carbohydrates, or sugar structures, known as glycans (glycan). In humans, galectin can be found throughout the body and participates in many processes, from muscle development to metabolism to immune cell behavior.
“We have observed that galectin likes to bind to blood group antigens, proteins and molecules specific to different blood groups and stick to the surface of cells,” he said.
Blood group antigens have two arrangements of molecules A and B. The presence or absence of these antigens determines a person’s blood group to be A, B, or AB. The American Red Cross states, O blood does not have two types of antigens, either A or B.
“Given the molecular similarities between the corona virus RBD and galectin, we thought, well maybe the virus binds directly to blood type antigens,” explained Stowell.
He assumed that blood type antigens could somehow influence the likelihood of infection. For example, some viruses reproduce in cells by first capturing glycans on their surface.
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According to research published in the journal Current Opinion in Structural Biology in 2016, the virus then released the glycans to sneak through the closest entrances into cells, triggering an infection. The same thing could potentially happen with the blood group antigen and SARS-CoV-2, so the team then ran the experiment.
hay / G-1
(hay / G-1)
Editor : Aloysius Widiyatmaka
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