Thread by @AurelianoStingi

#SARS_CoV_2 will cause Multiple Sclerosis??

No.

(or at least is not demonstrated in this paper)

3D

1/n

The group of prof. Matteucci published a research paper in which they characterized the presence of the pathogenic HERV-W envelope expression in T-lymphocytes of Covid19 patients. 2/n

let's address the elephant in the room first:
the HERV-W protein is also induced by other viruses like EBV, and is known to be involved in pathogenesis of some chronic degenerative inflammatory diseases like Multiple Sclerosis (MS). 3/n

Despite the link is still not clear many researchers believe that EBV through HERV-W may contribute to MS.
Here in this paper, the Matteucci group focused more on the predictive potential of this HERV-W.
4/n

An elevated expression of the HERV-W ENV protein in the blood cells of COVID-19 patients and its correlation with markers of inflammation including cytokines expression, and T-cell differentiation and exhaustion, could be used ad predictor of the outcome of the disease 5/n

Take home message:
1) different viruses trigger the expression of the same HERV-W protein (EBV, SARS-COV2)
2) a strong correlation between HERV-W and covid19 outcome
3)the correlation between HERV-W viruses and pathogenesis NEEDS to be investigated deeply
thelancet.com/action/showPdf…