Jahnavi Sarma
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Written By: Jahnavi Sarma | Updated : June 11, 2021 8:39 AM IST
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the elderly and those with underlying health conditions have been more at risk of infection and severe complications.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on the elderly. Though the second wave of the pandemic saw many people in their 30s and 40s also succumbing to the viral disease, it was worse for people in their twilight years. Scientists have been pondering over this problem and now a solution may very well be available soon. According to researchers from the University of Minnesota Medical School and the Mayo Clinic, there may be a new approach to preventing death and severe disease in elderly people infected with COVID-19. In a preclinical study, they demonstrated that senolytic drugs were able to significantly reduce death rates in older mice infected with a beta-coronavirus, which bears a close resemblance to COVID-19. This study is published in Science.
According to the researchers, Senolytic drugs can effectively and selectively remove senescent cells from the body. These are the damaged cells in the body that trigger inflammation as well as many chronic diseases. Senescent cells, which accumulate in the body as we age, are also the cause of age-related loss of resilience.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the elderly and those with underlying health conditions have been more at risk of infection and severe complications. The mortality rate among this group of people have also been much more than the general population. During the course of their study, the researchers tried to figure out why this was so. After much deliberations, they suspected that it may be due to senescent cells. They thought that removing them from the body with senolytic drugs may reduce the inflammation and induce an improved response to viral infection.
The researchers carried out experiments on older mice. They saw that when exposed for the first time to a mouse beta-coronavirus, older mice experienced nearly 100 per cent mortality. But the same was not the case with young mice who barely got sick. But when the older mice were given senolytic drugs after infection, their survival rate went up to 50 per cent. They saw that these drugs reduced mortality, cellular senescence and inflammatory markers and increased anti-viral antibodies. Seeing the results of their experiment, the researchers are confident that reducing the burden of senescent cells in ill or elderly individuals will improve their resilience and reduce their risk of dying from COVID-19.
The results of the study led to the initiation of two clinical trials to reduce mortality in elderly COVID-19 patients. Encouraged by the positive results of this study, the research team now plans to further study if senescent cells contribute to the long-hauler effect in many COVID-19 survivors.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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