The team of Scientist from the University of Alberta in Canada have identified a protein in the blood that could be responsible for an aggressive inflammatory response, known as a cytokine storm, which is also the leading cause of death in Covid-19 patients.

The team analysed the blood plasma of 120 patients with Covid-19 where they found that Covid-19 patients have significantly elevated levels of a protein called galectin-9 in their blood plasma. They also discovered a positive correlation between the levels of galectin-9 and pro-inflammatory cytokines released in the blood, which can lead to a cytokine storm.

Shokrollah Elahi, the Associate Professor in the School of Dentistry's Division of Foundational Sciences said: "We have reported in the past that galectin-9 levels go up in HIV infection and with some cancers,"  However, when we compared the levels of galectin-9 in the Covid-19 patients to HIV and cancer patients, we could easily distinguish the Covid patients based on the galectin-9 levels," Elahi added. The findings have been published in the journal mBio. It is further stated that "Cytokines as small cell-signalling proteins are involved in checks and balances in the immune system; they can turn on or turn off some cells to regulate the immune system."

The discovery of elevated galectin-9 levels in Covid-19 patients is important because of the positive correlation between the protein and a wide range of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

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