How do bats resist the new coronavirus?

A paper published in the well-known journal "Science Immunology" explores the idea that studying the response of bats to SARS-CoV-2 might be how and when to best use existing ones.

This review led by Professor Marcel Nold and Associate Professor Claudia Nold of the Department of Pediatrics of Monash University and the Hudson Institute of Medicine was written in collaboration with colleagues in Australia and China.

Since it was first confirmed in December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has undergone mutations, and the mutant strains α, β, and δ are more infectious than the original strain

He said there is still an urgent need for "effective treatments, at least in part because of the emergence of mutations

The author warns that “preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection, or getting patients to eradicate it, represents the ultimate goal of the fight against COVID-19: but it is uncertain when both will be reliably achieved

Professor Nold said: “Therefore, trying to find safe and effective treatments to prevent the new coronavirus from developing to moderate and severe disease stages is of vital importance to the prevention and treatment of the disease

Bats are infected with the virus, but the disease is rare

According to Associate Professor Nold, studying the ways in which bats resist the coronavirus not only holds great promise for SARS-CoV-2 infection, but will also "be better prepared for the next epidemic or pandemic.

The comment stated that the current common ancestor of the new coronavirus may have appeared in bats 40 to 70 years ago, "although the exact bat species or intermediate host of the outbreak in 2019 is still elusive

Although bats can infect each other with SARS-CoV-2, they have neither clinical effects nor exhibited lung problems that seriously affect humans

The author believes that some of the ways bats resist the new coronavirus can be used for treatment, such as fine-tuning the human immune response to the virus in the way that bats seem to use, including enhancing the type I and type III interferon response, or-in the event of a serious disease- Block the inflammasome to mimic the response of bats

Associate Professor Nold said, this "can reduce the excessive inflammation, immune failure and cytokine storm experienced by humans

Based on these insights, the interdisciplinary authors commented on the best strategies for the selection and timing of various treatment methods today, as well as the currently underdeveloped approaches that are expected to alleviate the suffering caused by COVID-19 on a global scale