Long Covid: Treating immune response to lung scarring can reverse damage, shows research on mice

The long-term effects of respiratory viral infections such as Covid-19 are a major public health burden. Some estimates suggest over 65 million people around the world suffer from long Covid-19.

Efforts to better understand this condition, however, have been hampered by its ability to affect multiple organ systems, such as those involving the lungs, brain and heart. This is further complicated by the lack of animal models that can sufficiently mimic the disease.

Animal models, such as mice and rats, are a crucial tool that researchers use to study human diseases and develop treatment strategies. Although there are major differences between humans and animal models, the vast majority of our immune and organs systems function similarly. Such similarities in physiology have made significant health care discoveries, including those related to Covid-19, possible.

I am an immunology researcher in the Sun Lab at the University of Virginia. We study the role the immune system plays in respiratory viral infections such as influenza and Covid-19. In our newly published research, we developed a new mouse model to study long Covid-19 and found that blocking certain overactive immune cells can restore lung function.

New models, targets

Out team wanted to better understand the long-term effects of Covid-19 on the respiratory system. To do this, we worked to identify key features associated with lung scarring following Covid-19.

First, we examined...

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