“Notably, we also found that activation of RAAS caused substantial damage to the lymph nodes, which hasn’t been shown in COVID-19 before,” said Beheshti, who is also director of Pitt’s Center for Space Biomedicine. “This could explain the long-lasting immune dysregulation seen in survivors of COVID-19 and may contribute to long COVID.”
It’s also possible that damage to lymph nodes could impair the immune system’s ability to detect and destroy cancerous cells, which could potentially help explain the postpandemic increase in cancer cases.
According to Beheshti, the new findings suggest that targeting RAAS overactivation and supporting mitochondrial function could be new approaches for developing therapeutics to prevent or mitigate severe COVID-19 outcomes and potentially reduce the risk of long COVID.
Head shot courtesy of Afshin Beheshti