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"We know that the accumulation of damaged mitochondria is a common factor in many of the diseases associated with aging and obesity," explains Professor López Lluch.
A study carried out by professors at the Pablo de Olavide University of Seville and researchers at the Andalusian Center for Developmental Biology (CABD) Daniel José Moreno Fernández Ayala, Plácido Navas and Guillermo López Lluc has concluded that damage to mitochondria, the energy plants of cells, is a key factor in the severity of covid-19.
The study has been published in the journal 'Experimental Gerontology' by these researchers, experts in diseases caused by the loss of function in mitochondria and aging, who associated the greater severity of covid-19 that occurs in older people or with metabolic syndrome or obesity with the fact that in all these cases the accumulation of damaged mitochondria is a common factor.
On its official website, the University includes the summary of the work, which explains that the review of the scientific literature published so far reveals that the presence of damaged mitochondria is associated with two of the key symptoms in SARS-CoV-2 infection. : massive inflammation and low levels of interferon.
"In previous studies on changes in gene expression in mitochondrial diseases due to Coenzyme Q deficiency, we had found that changes occurred towards an inflammatory profile with deficiency in interferon production, two of the phenomena observed in covid-19. This It made us investigate more into the relationship between mitochondria and imbalances in the immune system,” says Professor Fernández-Ayala.
Guillermo López Lluch and Plácido Navas verified that, as we age, “mitochondria, the energy centers of cells, lose functionality and accumulate damage, and the cellular mechanisms that eliminate damaged mitochondria lose effectiveness, which is why they accumulate. in the cells.”
“We know that the accumulation of damaged mitochondria is a common factor in many of the diseases associated with aging and obesity,” explains Professor López Lluch.
