QBRI applies precision medicine to predict, treat severe COVID-19 – The Peninsula

QBRI applies precision medicine to predict, treat severe COVID-19 – The Peninsula

Doha: With COVID-19 complications presenting a huge burden on healthcare systems worldwide, Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), and other collaborators, have published a new joint study in the prestigious Nature Communications that addresses the need for early prognosis and treatment.

The study was led by Dr. Fares Al Ejeh, Senior Scientist at QBRI.

The study, conducted by QBRI’s Proteomics Core, utilized the Olink Technology platform to examine plasma proteins from SARS-CoV-2 infected patients. The Proteomics Core operates a number of cutting-edge technology platforms that enable researchers to perform high throughput, affinity-based proteomics assays. Proteomics tests associated with this project were performed under the supervision of Dr. Houari Abdesselem, Proteomics Core Laboratory Manager at QBRI.

Testing identified 375 proteins that are changed in the blood of patients with severe COVID-19, which helped explain the biological mechanism behind severe complications. Based on this understanding, the team developed two practical solutions that represent a predictive model which can identify patients at high risk as early as possible after infection, along with early treatment.

The first is a 12-protein signature, which they named the COVID-19 Molecular Severity Score, that can predict complications early after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The