CCMB study demonstrates Delta variant of corona could evade immune system better

Hyderabad: A group of researchers from the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in a study have found that human immunity could not produce the necessary defence molecules against the Delta variants of SARs-CoV-2, as effectively as they did with other variants. A release said the study, which was published recently in the Microbiology Spectrum journal, demonstrated how the Delta variant could evade the human immune system effectively when compared to other variants of SARs-CoV-2.

While infection due to the other four variants alerted the immune system quickly, the Delta variant could silently replicate in the host cells. Dr. Krishnan Harshan's group led the study in collaboration with Dr. Divya Tej Sowpati's group at CSIR-CCMB.

"We navigated through hundreds of immune pathways known to us using high throughput sequencing and analysis," said Dr Nitesh Kumar Singh, who worked on the project with Dr Sowpati. "We have identified the molecular mechanisms regulating the host immune response have not been as potent against the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2. This also includes the production of interferons, immune molecules often used for antiviral therapies.

The study hints at why the Delta variant could spread more easily. The study also helps us understand how viruses evolve with changing effects on human hosts," said Dr. Harshan.