Bats carry many dangerous diseases, including Ebola, rabies, and the SARS-CoV-2 virus strain that causes coronavirus.
According to researchers from the University of Rochester, the longevity of bats and their ability to carry viruses is related to the peculiarity of their body. It turns out that bats are able to control inflammatory processes.
The idea of such a study came up in March, when my colleagues and I were in Singapore. Due to the pandemic, we had to remain in quarantine there along with other scientists. We wondered why the bats, which are considered SARS-CoV-2 carriers, were not infected by themselves, — they write specialists.
Another mysterious factor: as a rule, the life span of an animal correlates with its body weight – the smaller the species, the shorter its lifespan, and vice versa. But many species of bats have a life span of 30 to 40 years, which is impressive for their size.
Scientists have suggested that bats can have a very strong relationship between resistance to infectious diseases and their longevity. Prior to this, researchers studied longevity and disease resistance in other long-lived animals, including naked mole rats.
One of the common themes in their research is that inflammation is a sign of the aging process and age-related diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular diseases.
Viruses, including COVID-19, are one of the factors that can cause inflammation. For example, andmmunar system human works like this: as soon as we become infected, our body gives an alarm, and we develop temperature and inflammation.
The main task of the immune system is to kill the virus and fight the infection, but it can also be dangerous for humans, since any infection is a lot of stress for the body.
But bats are not so. Unlike humans, they have developed specific mechanisms that reduce the replication of the virus, as well as weaken the immune response to the virus. The result is a favorable balance: their immune system controls the viruses, but at the same time does not cause a strong inflammatory reaction.
According to researchers, there are several factors that can contribute to these functions. Bats are the only mammals that can fly, which requires them to adapt to a rapid increase in body temperature. This feature may well help in resistance to the disease.
The bats lifestyle can also influence this unique fitness: they live in large dense colonies and stay close to each other, which is ideal for the transmission of viruses and other pathogens.
Since bats are constantly exposed to viruses, their immune system is under constant stress and therefore prevents the virus from invading the body.
Can a person develop the same sustainability?
Scientists write that there is such an opportunity, but this is not an appeal to take off masks and crowd in crowded places. In bats, such fitness arose as a result of evolution over hundreds of thousands of years, and not in a couple of months.
According to experts, people have not yet developed sophisticated mechanisms to combat new viruses. If you neglect safety measures, the consequences may be such that our body can not cope with inflammation.
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