COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, can present serious complications in some patients. Statistics collected from clinical cases show that the severity of the condition increases with age and comorbidities, such as diabetes, cancer and other respiratory diseases. But other patients of similar age and health status can cope with the virus in very different ways: Scientists believe that it depends on the strength of their immune system, which would explain why some people are mild or asymptomatic. This is consistent with what we know about other similar diseases, but it is probably still too early to venture to affirm a conclusion categorically.
“80% of confirmed COVID-19 patients have mild symptoms without the need for respiratory assistance. The question is why, ”was the reflection posed by Dr. Zhen Yan, a researcher at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, in the United States. Based on his years of experience, he hypothesized that physical exercise would have a protective effect on the development of COVID-19. Finally, the results of detailed medical research, published in the journal Redox Biology , “strongly support the possibility that exercise can prevent or at least reduce the severity of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which affects between 3 % and 17% of all patients with COVID-19 “ , as stated in a statement from the University of Virginia.
Together with his team, the researcher compiled an in-depth review of the existing scientific literature, including his own, in search of an antioxidant known as “extracellular superoxide dismutase” (EcSOD). This powerful antioxidant ‘hunts’ harmful free radicals, protects our tissues and helps prevent disease. Our muscles produce EcSOD naturally, secreting it into the circulation to allow attachment to other vital organs, but its production is enhanced by cardiovascular exercise. The meta-analysis observed a decrease in this antioxidant in several diseases, including acute lung disease, ischemic heart disease, and kidney failure.
The team also conducted a laboratory study with mouse animal models. In the. Research in mice suggests that blocking the production of this antioxidant worsened heart problems, while increasing it had a beneficial effect. A decrease in EcSOD was also associated with chronic conditions, such as osteoarthritis.
According to Yan: “Respiratory or social distancing is not the only thing we can do to avoid exposure, or rely on a respirator to survive if we become infected. Regular exercise has many more health benefits than we think we know. Protection against this serious respiratory disease is just one of many examples. “
Furthermore, their research could also suggest a new possible treatment approach : “Our findings on the endogenous antioxidant enzyme provide important clues and have motivated us to develop a new therapeutic treatment for ARDS caused by COVID-19.”
Possible treatment, not just for COVID-19
Yan’s review also suggests EcSOD as a potential treatment for ARDS and many other health conditions. Gene therapy, for example, could one day be used to increase the production of the antioxidant so that its protective presence in the lungs improves in patients battling COVID-19.
Research has also shown that lab rats with chronic kidney disease had less kidney damage when treated with human EcSOD. The antioxidant is already being proposed as a therapeutic potential for diabetic retinopathy, a complication of diabetes that can lead to blindness.
In addition, EcSOD may also be beneficial against multi-organ dysfunction syndrome. Efforts to treat this condition with antioxidants have yet to be successful, but Yan suggests that understanding how EcSOD works may allow clinicians to use it in a more targeted and, hopefully, more effective way.
