Article: Anti-autoantibody drug helps with long COVID, 2021

D

darrellpf

Established Member (Voting Rights)
Autoantibody helps with Long Covid
The German article

https://www.fau.de/2021/07/news/medikament-gegen-autoantikoerper-hilft-bei-long-covid/

The paper is most interesting because of microcirculation, plus the use of BC 007, originally a heart related drug, as a treatment.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2021.676554/abstract
Abstract
"Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19), affects the pulmonary systems via angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2) receptor being an entry to systemic infection. As COVID-19 disease features ACE-2 deficiency, a link to microcirculation is proposed. OCT-angiography (OCT-A) enables non-invasive analysis of retinal microvasculature. Thus, an impaired systemic microcirculation might be mapped on retinal capillary system. As recent OCT-A studies, analyzing microcirculation in two subdivided layers, yielded contrary results, an increased subdivision of retinal microvasculature might offer an even more fine analysis. The aim of the study was to investigate retinal microcirculation by OCT-A after COVID-19 infection in three subdivided layers (I).

In addition, short-term retinal affections were monitored during COVID-19 disease (II). Considering (I), a prospective study (33 patientspost-COVID, 28 controls) was done. Macula and peripapillary vessel density (VD) were scanned with the Spectralis II. Macula VD was measured in three layers: superficial vascular plexus (SVP), intermediate capillary plexus (ICP), and deep capillary plexus (DCP). Analysis was done by the EA-Tool, including an Anatomical Positioning System and an analysis of peripapillary VD by implementing BMO landmarks. Overall, circular (c1, c2, c3) and sectorial VD (s1-s12) were analyzed. Considering (II), a retrospective study of 29 patients with severe complications of COVID-19 infection, hospitalized at the intensive care unit were monitored for retinal findings at bedside during hospitalization.

(I) Overall (p=0.0133) and circular (c1, p=0.00257; c2, p=0.0067; c3, p=0.0345) VD of ICP were significantly reduced between patientspost-COVID and controls, respectively. Overall (p=0.0179) and circular (c1, p=0.0189) peripapillary VD were significantly reduced between both groups. Subgroup analysis of hospitalized vs. non- hospitalized patientspost-COVID yielded a significantly reduced VD of adjacent layers (DCP, SVP) with increased severity of COVID-19 disease. Clinical severity parameters showed a negative correlation with VD (ICP) and peripapillary VD. (II) Funduscopy yielded retinal hemorrhages and cotton wool spots in 17% of patients during SARS-CoV-2 infection.

As VD of ICP and peripapillary region were significantly reduced after COVID-19 disease and showed a link to clinical severity markers, we assume that the severity of capillary impairment after COVID-19 infection is mapped on retinal microcirculation, visualized by non-invasive OCT-A."
 
Last edited by a moderator:
For those for whom an article in German is a bit of a barrier:
The scientific paper tells only part of the story - the article suggests that a Long Covid treatment study is planned. The idea is that the drug fixes problems with blood flow caused by autoantibodies resulting from a Covid-19 infection.

the article said:
Thanks to a drug that was originally developed to fight heart disease, a team of doctors at the University Hospital Erlangen's eye clinic has now succeeded for the first time as part of an individual healing experiment in a 59-year-old man with long COVID syndrome.

Whether the active ingredient BC 007 also helps other sufferers will soon be examined in a clinical study. "At the moment, unfortunately, we can no longer treat people with the drug because it has not yet passed all approval studies," says Prof. Dr. Christian Mardin, senior physician in charge of the eye clinic.

The doctors at the Eye Clinic and Medical Clinic 1 - Gastroenterology, Pneumology and Endocrinology and Medical Clinic 3 - Rheumatology and Immunology at the University Clinic Erlangen had already found out in advance as part of the ReCOVer study: Who has a COVID-19 infection behind him, the blood flow to the eyes is still significantly restricted many months later. The background thought to the attempted healing was that the changed blood flow is certainly not limited to the eye, but can be seen as an example for the entire body.
In the blood of former COVID-19 patients, the team of doctors, together with a long-term cooperation partner and former employee of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, Dr. Gerd Wallukat, months after the infection, certain proteins that you have been dealing with for many years in connection with glaucoma (glaucoma): autoantibodies against G-protein-coupled receptors.
Click to expand...

the article said:
The interdisciplinary medical and scientific team found out during the blood tests that patients after a corona infection have several of these proteins. "We already know one of these autoantibodies from glaucoma and know that it has a bad effect on the blood circulation in the eye," explains Dr. Hohberger.
Thanks to the long-term cooperation with Dr. Wallukat had heard from the ophthalmologist about a preparation that binds these harmful autoantibodies. This would make it possible to render the autoantibodies harmless and possibly to improve the circulatory disorders.
Click to expand...

the article said:
When a long-time patient with glaucoma in the Erlangen glaucoma registry reported his symptoms after surviving corona infection - loss of taste, severe concentration disorders and fatigue that severely restricted him in his professional and private life - the team at the eye clinic wanted to offer him help.
As part of an individual attempt at healing with the Berlin drug, BC 007, the 59-year-old received the preparation via infusion and stayed three days as an inpatient at the University Clinic Erlangen. “There was an improvement within a few hours. When he was discharged, our patient felt much more relaxed than before the administration and his autoantibody values confirmed this impression, ”the team of doctors describes the process. The difficulty concentrating also disappeared, the performance of the 59-year-old increased again and the sense of taste returned.
"Overall, the blood flow to the capillaries, which we can measure on the eye, has improved significantly." The team at the Erlangen Eye Clinic therefore assumes that the patient's long COVID symptoms have disappeared thanks to the improved blood flow.
Click to expand...
 
I think that they were talking about blood flow problems with the autoantibodies which where sorted by the drug. The connection would be blood flow damage in the eye causing glaucoma in people susceptible to it but blood flow problems elsewhere causing long covid

I am not very good at taking in complicated articles so I could be wrong.

I have always felt I had problems because of blood flow issues in my fingers and toes. Severe eye problems mean I am tested for glaucoma every year and the last few have been frustrating. As usual, I can't remember the actual numbers but it was something like under 15 being normal and over 22 glaucoma but I have a reading of 20 - 21. Typical ME
 
I’m all about the glaucoma as a genetic risk factor at PITX2 to developing long EBV
That’s where I get all my matches from

https://journals.lww.com/apjoo/Full...Direct_Interest_to_Complement_Pathway.16.aspx
Eye Diseases Direct Interest to Complement Pathway and Macrophages as Regulators of Inflammation in COVID-19

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/long-covid-could-treated-experimental-24472144.amp
Long Covid could be treated with experimental heart drug as patient 'cured' of symptoms
https://berlincures.de/pipeline/
 
Last edited by a moderator:
https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/105/16/6081.full.pdf?with-ds=yes
Deletion of G protein-coupled receptor 48 leads to
ocular anterior segment dysgenesis (ASD) through
down-regulation of Pitx2

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18487371/
GPR48 regulates epithelial cell proliferation and migration by activating EGFR during eyelid development

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/ppmc/articles/PMC4347243/
Mutation of FOXC1 and PITX2induces cerebral small-vessel disease

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32045938/
Axenfeld-Rieger Anomaly and Neuropsychiatric Problems-More than Meets the Eye

I don’t have lesions but may have a tendency towards something effecting small vessels
 
Last edited:
This team has published a case report of BC 007.

Case Report: Neutralization of Autoantibodies Targeting G-Protein-Coupled Receptors Improves Capillary Impairment and Fatigue Symptoms After COVID-19 Infection, 2021, Hohberger et al

Abstract
Clinical features of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Acute infection management is a substantial healthcare issue, and the development of long-Covid syndrome (LCS) is extremely challenging for patients and physicians. It is associated with a variety of characteristics as impaired capillary microcirculation, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), proinflammatory cytokines, and functional autoantibodies targeting G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR-AAbs). Here, we present a case report of successful healing of LCS with BC 007 (Berlin Cures, Berlin, Germany), a DNA aptamer drug with a high affinity to GPCR-AAbs that neutralizes these AAbs. A patient with a documented history of glaucoma, recovered from mild COVID-19, but still suffered from CFS, loss of taste, and impaired capillary microcirculation in the macula and peripapillary region. He was positively tested for various targeting GPCR-AAbs. Within 48 h after a single BC 007 treatment, GPCR-AAbs were functionally inactivated and remained inactive during the observation period of 4 weeks. This observation was accompanied by constant improvement of the fatigue symptoms of the patient, taste, and retinal capillary microcirculation. Therefore, the removal of GPCR-AAb might ameliorate the characteristics of the LCD, such as capillary impairment, loss of taste, and CFS.

Open access full text
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2021.754667/full
 
ola_cohn said:
This team has published a case report of BC 007.

Case Report: Neutralization of Autoantibodies Targeting G-Protein-Coupled Receptors Improves Capillary Impairment and Fatigue Symptoms After COVID-19 Infection, 2021, Hohberger et al

Abstract
Clinical features of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Acute infection management is a substantial healthcare issue, and the development of long-Covid syndrome (LCS) is extremely challenging for patients and physicians. It is associated with a variety of characteristics as impaired capillary microcirculation, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), proinflammatory cytokines, and functional autoantibodies targeting G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR-AAbs). Here, we present a case report of successful healing of LCS with BC 007 (Berlin Cures, Berlin, Germany), a DNA aptamer drug with a high affinity to GPCR-AAbs that neutralizes these AAbs. A patient with a documented history of glaucoma, recovered from mild COVID-19, but still suffered from CFS, loss of taste, and impaired capillary microcirculation in the macula and peripapillary region. He was positively tested for various targeting GPCR-AAbs. Within 48 h after a single BC 007 treatment, GPCR-AAbs were functionally inactivated and remained inactive during the observation period of 4 weeks. This observation was accompanied by constant improvement of the fatigue symptoms of the patient, taste, and retinal capillary microcirculation. Therefore, the removal of GPCR-AAb might ameliorate the characteristics of the LCD, such as capillary impairment, loss of taste, and CFS.

Open access full text
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2021.754667/full
Click to expand...


I haven't read it all but this part gave me a chuckle:
The more are the decrease of the Canadian Criteria and Chalder Fatigue Scale, the merrier is the CF symptoms of the patient. The more is the increase of the Bell Score, the merrier is the CFS symptoms.
Click to expand...
 
"WE NEED 800 000 €
for a medical study at the University Hospital Erlangen with the drug BC007 of the company "Berlin Cures" for ME/CFS patients
....
In mid-September 2021, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) launched a study to research the drug BC 007 under the direction of Dr. Dr. med. Bettina Hohberger at the University Hospital Erlangen, but ONLY for patients affected by Long-Covid. Unfortunately, this means that ME/CFS patients who have been seriously ill for years and decades for a cure cannot be included in the study despite the large overlap between the two clinical pictures.

We want to change that! Miss Dr. Hohberger would also like to help those affected and set up a parallel study for ME/CFS.

For this we need 800,000 EUR
THEREFORE this campaign!

It is a chance for ME/CFS sufferers not only to become publicly visible, but finally to take part in a drug study that could improve their living situation, possibly even lead to a cure!

Please help us to make this study possible for ME/CFS patients!"

https://wir-fordern-forschung.org/en/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom