Seoul National University Hospital Research Team Develops Inhalation Treatment to Alleviate COVID-19 Symptoms

Confirmed Effect of Immune Substance 'Interferon Lambda'

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] A research team at Seoul National University Hospital has confirmed the virus infection control and immune regulation functions of the immune substance 'interferon lambda' and is conducting follow-up research to develop a treatment based on this.

Professor Kim Hyun-jik's team from the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at Seoul National University Hospital announced on the 18th the results of a study on the effects of inhaling the antiviral substance interferon lambda (IFN-λ) through the nasal cavity on suppressing COVID-19 infection and improving pneumonia symptoms using an animal model.

The COVID-19 virus rapidly proliferates in the upper respiratory tract of infected individuals even before symptoms appear, and some infected patients continue to show signs of pneumonia due to an excessive immune response triggered in the respiratory tract even after the virus has disappeared. According to the analysis by the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at Seoul National University Hospital, more than 70% of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 last year and discharged after confirming a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test showed pneumonia and fibrosis-related findings on X-rays.

Due to these characteristics, there has been growing interest in treatments that alleviate viral pneumonia symptoms after infection. Additionally, there has been a need to complement the limitations of existing treatments such as steroids or monoclonal antibody therapies, which have usage restrictions depending on the patient's immune response.

Professor Kim's team conducted research on an inhalation treatment that enhances respiratory mucosal immunity using interferon lambda to develop a COVID-19 treatment that can control virus spread and improve pneumonia symptoms. Interferon lambda is an antiviral substance secreted in the body upon viral invasion and is known to play a crucial role in the immune response during the early stages of infection.

The research team classified a COVID-19 infected animal model into a control group with no treatment and a treatment group that received inhalation therapy (interferon lambda) applied to the nasal and upper respiratory mucosa immediately after infection, then analyzed the lung tissues of both groups.

As a result, inhaling interferon lambda through the nasal cavity was found to suppress the penetration of COVID-19 into the lungs and eliminate viral inflammation. Three days after administration, the viral load in the treatment group was significantly lower compared to the control group, and the expression levels of IL-1β and TNF-α genes, which indicate inflammation levels, were also lower in the treatment group than in the control group.

To precisely confirm the pneumonia improvement effect brought by nasal inhalation of interferon lambda, the research team also conducted gene expression analysis within the lungs. The analysis showed that in the lung tissues of the treatment group, which had lower inflammation levels compared to the control group, gene expression related to damage recovery, lipid metabolism, and cell and tissue regeneration was predominant. The damage recovery gene (Fabp4) was expressed about 13 times more, and tissue regeneration-related genes (Spp1, Saa3) were expressed more than 90 times higher in the treatment group.

The research team emphasized that interferon lambda induces innate immune responses to alleviate viral acute lung infections, supporting the fact that interferon lambda could be a good candidate substance for COVID-19 treatments.

Professor Kim said, "In the process of developing a treatment that enhances immunity in the upper respiratory mucosa, we were able to prove the potential of interferon lambda as a substance that controls respiratory viruses and improves lung infections," adding, "We are currently conducting follow-up research jointly with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) to actually develop a treatment."

Meanwhile, the results of this study are scheduled to be published in the international immunology journal Frontiers in Immunology.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.