Bradykinin, auto-immunity, vitamin D: finally getting to some facts about COVID-19

Forget the “cytokine storm”, we may actually be dealing with a “bradykinin storm”.

The USA’s most powerful supercomputer was turned loose to analyse lung fluid cells of COVID-19 patients and suggested a culprit that explains ALL the symptoms that have been confusing clinicians dealing with the disease – from respiratory distress to swollen toes.

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and the bradykinin pathway regulate blood pressure and fluid balance in the body. A hyperactive bradykinin system permits fluid to leak out of blood vessels – and immune cells follow, triggering massive inflammation. When this happens in the lungs…
well, read the full story on page 40.

What’s HUGELY significant about this finding is that genes in the RAS-bradykinin pathway have vitamin D binding sites. Vitamin D helps regulate the RAS, and vitamin D deficiencies have already been associated with more severe illness in COVID-19 patients. The supercomputer scientists are now looking to identify what pathways could be influenced by D.

There was more astounding COVID-related research released in two papers in Science, proving what we all “knew” – that there’s a genetic compoment to explain those rare instances where apparently “healthy” people get severe COVID-19 disease and why it just seems to hit some people harder than others. Researchers found that at least 3.5% of patients with severe COVID-19 had mutations in genes involved in anti-viral defence. And at least 10% of patients with severe disease create “auto-antibodies” that attack the immune system, instead of fighting the virus. (See news, page 8).

Described as “an unprecedented finding”, the team’s analysis of 987 patients with life-threatening COVID-19 revealed that least 101 had auto-antibodies against an assortment of interferon proteins. These antibodies blocked interferon action and were not present in patients with mild COVID-19 cases.

And there it is – the very link between inflammation and auto-immunity explained so clearly by Dr Sam Yanuck, DC, in our groundbreaking first Virtual Event last month.

There were many of us attending IHCAN’s one-day online conference who breathed a sigh of relief when contributing editor Ben Brown thanked Sam for his amazing presentations on functional immunology. When Ben said he was going to have to watch the material five times to really get it, a communal “Oh, thank goodness, it’s not just me!” shivered through the community. Read more about that on page 8.

Does nutrition actually exist?

More research is accumulating to support the importance of vitamin D in infection – including Sars-Cov-2 infection. Vitamin D, of course, is one of many vital immune system supporting nutrients that are being completely ignored by the UK government health “experts” and scientific advisors. It’s like nutrition doesn’t exist. Apparently there’s NOTHING we can do (and don’t mention obesity) except mask up, hide indoors and wait for a vaccine.

But at least we’re having the last laugh on omega-3 supplements. Like D, supplements of omega-3s and fish oil have been consistently dismissed; in this instance by the NHS, the British Heart Foundation and the British Dietetic Association to name just a few, as having “little or no effect on mortality or cardiovascular health” (as the NHS puts it). We knew better of course, but no one listens to us.

But now…a new study has blown out of the water the Cochrane review that most current opinion was based on. This new paper (see page 5) looked at triple the number of studies and found that EPA+DHA supplementation is associated with a statistically significant reduced risk of CHD events and CHD mortality.

Simon Martin
Editor