According to an Austrian study, a third vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 can lead to protection against Covid-19 in people with immunosuppression after kidney transplantation after two unsuccessful vaccinations. Around 40 percent show an immune response with the formation of antibodies after the third dose – regardless of whether it is an mRNA or vector vaccine.
People with a restricted immune system – congenital or due to cancer chemotherapy or suppression of the defense reaction after organ transplantation – have a particularly bad reaction to vaccinations. At the same time, the course of a Covid 19 disease can be particularly difficult for them.
The results of the Austrian study are meaningful in a narrow sense for the effectiveness of the third vaccination against Covid-19 in people with a restricted immune system. Overall, however, the results should underscore the importance of the “third trick”.
Penninger active ingredient APN01 improved
The idea of offering the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen a different target than the human cells by administering a drug has been pursued by a team from the Viennese company Apeiron with its active ingredient APN01 since the beginning of the pandemic. Researchers working with the geneticist Josef Penninger have now found a way to make the artificial entry point for the virus into the cell – the ACE2 receptor – more attractive for the pathogen by removing sugar chains that inhibit the pathogen’s attachment. An international team of scientists with the participation of universities from Vienna, Graz, Sweden, Canada and the company Apeiron has now taken a closer look at the sugar chains with which the ACE2 protein is equipped. In a study in the specialist magazine “eLife”, the researchers show in 3D simulations that some of these sugar structures slow down the virus’ docking. The pathogen was neutralized better overall. That could improve a Covid 19 therapy with the active ingredient, so the scientists.
Source: Nachrichten
