Natural resistance against infections: focus on COVID-19

Netea, Mihai G.; Domínguez‐Andrés, Jorge; Veerdonk, Frank L. van de; Crevel, Reinout van; Pulendran, Bali; Meer, J.W.M. van der

doi:10.1016/j.it.2021.12.001

“…An important property of the human immune system is natural resistance, defined as the inability of pathogens, viruses included, to infect the host or as an ability of the host to limit the disease burden after infection [ 16 ]. Two mechanisms of natural resistance have been suggested [ 17 ]. The first mechanism comprises genetic variants in genes important for entry mechanisms, especially in the receptors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The second mechanism is the rapid elimination of the pathogen by host resistance mechanisms. As for the host’s survival, the balance between resistance mechanisms aiming to eliminate host pathogens and tolerance mechanisms aiming to avoid collateral damage induced by inflammation is crucial; natural resistance is mostly related to the immune system, either to its robustness or on the genetic level [ 17 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond GWAS—Could Genetic Differentiation within the Allograft Rejection Pathway Shape Natural Immunity to COVID-19?

Szyda

¹

,

Dobosz

²

,

Stojak

³

et al. 2022

IJMS

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COVID-19 infections pose a serious global health concern so it is crucial to identify the biomarkers for the susceptibility to and resistance against this disease that could help in a rapid risk assessment and reliable decisions being made on patients’ treatment and their potential hospitalisation. Several studies investigated the factors associated with severe COVID-19 outcomes that can be either environmental, population based, or genetic. It was demonstrated that the genetics of the host plays an important role in the various immune responses and, therefore, there are different clinical presentations of COVID-19 infection. In this study, we aimed to use variant descriptive statistics from GWAS (Genome-Wide Association Study) and variant genomic annotations to identify metabolic pathways that are associated with a severe COVID-19 infection as well as pathways related to resistance to COVID-19. For this purpose, we applied a custom-designed mixed linear model implemented into custom-written software. Our analysis of more than 12.5 million SNPs did not indicate any pathway that was significant for a severe COVID-19 infection. However, the Allograft rejection pathway (hsa05330) was significant (p = 0.01087) for resistance to the infection. The majority of the 27 SNP marking genes constituting the Allograft rejection pathway were located on chromosome 6 (19 SNPs) and the remainder were mapped to chromosomes 2, 3, 10, 12, 20, and X. This pathway comprises several immune system components crucial for the self versus non-self recognition, but also the components of antiviral immunity. Our study demonstrated that not only single variants are important for resistance to COVID-19, but also the cumulative impact of several SNPs within the same pathway matters.

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“…First, most people have some kind of natural resistance against pathogens 37 or 'general immune competence' and are thus distinguished from those with known immune deficiency diseases or immune system compromise. The macrophages are one of the responsible actors.…”

Section: Coronavirus Control Policies a Short Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Surfing Corona waves – instead of breaking them: Rethinking the role of natural immunity in COVID-19 policy

Kalk¹,

Sturmberg

²

,

Damme

³

et al. 2022

F1000Res

3

0

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Current COVID-19 response policies have aimed to break Corona waves through non-pharmaceutical interventions and mass vaccination. However, for long-term strategies to be effective and efficient, and to avoid massive disruption and social harms, it is crucial to introduce the role of natural immunity in our thinking about COVID-19 control and prevention. We argue that any Corona control policy must appropriately balance five key elements simultaneously: balancing the various fundamental interests of the nation, as well as the various interventions within the health sector; tailoring the prevention measures and treatments to individual needs; limiting social interaction restrictions; and balancing the role of vaccinations against the role of naturally induced immunity. Given the high infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 and its differential impact on population segments, we examine this last element in more detail and argue that an important aspect of ‘living with the virus’ will be to better understand the role of naturally induced immunity in our overall COVID-19 policy response. In our eyes, a policy approach that factors natural immunity should be considered for persons without major comorbidities and those having ‘encountered’ the antigen in the past.

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“…First, most people have some kind of natural resistance against pathogens 41 or 'general immune competence' and are thus distinguished from those with known immune deficiency diseases or immune system compromise. The macrophages are one of the responsible actors.…”

Section: Revised Amendments From Versionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surfing Corona waves – instead of breaking them: Rethinking the role of natural immunity in COVID-19 policy

Kalk

¹

,

Sturmberg

²

,

Damme

³

et al. 2022

F1000Res

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Current COVID-19 response policies have aimed to break Corona waves through non-pharmaceutical interventions and mass vaccination. However, for long-term strategies to be effective and efficient, and to avoid massive disruption and social harms, it is crucial to introduce the role of natural immunity in our thinking about COVID-19 control and prevention. We argue that any Corona control policy must appropriately balance five key elements simultaneously: balancing the various fundamental interests of the nation, as well as the various interventions within the health sector; tailoring the prevention measures and treatments to individual needs; limiting social interaction restrictions; and balancing the role of vaccinations against the role of naturally induced immunity. Given the high infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 and its differential impact on population segments, we examine this last element in more detail and argue that an important aspect of ‘living with the virus’ will be to better understand the role of naturally induced immunity in our overall COVID-19 policy response. In our eyes, a policy approach that factors natural immunity should be considered for persons without major comorbidities and those having ‘encountered’ the antigen in the past.

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Natural resistance against infections: focus on COVID-19

Cited by 19 publications

References 66 publications

Beyond GWAS—Could Genetic Differentiation within the Allograft Rejection Pathway Shape Natural Immunity to COVID-19?

Beyond GWAS—Could Genetic Differentiation within the Allograft Rejection Pathway Shape Natural Immunity to COVID-19?

Surfing Corona waves – instead of breaking them: Rethinking the role of natural immunity in COVID-19 policy

Surfing Corona waves – instead of breaking them: Rethinking the role of natural immunity in COVID-19 policy

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