American scientists theorize that severe symptoms of COVID-19 can be explained by patients' immune systems overproducing virus-fighting molecules known as bradykinins.
Early on in the pandemic, some doctors suggested the variety of symptoms could be explained as the work ofCytokines are one of three types of molecule that the body produces in response to a virus or another invader. Normally, humans stop producing cytokines once the threat has been defeated. In a cytokine storm, however, the immune system keeps producing them – and they end up attacking the organs they were meant to protect.
While cytokines fight off infection by attracting white blood cells and ultimately regulating the body's temperature, bradykinins handle it via methods including inflammation. They're responsible for sneezes, coughs, stuffy noses and other typical symptoms of influenza and the common cold. They're also able to dilate blood vessels, making them porous.
"Immune cells that are normally contained in the blood vessels flood into the surrounding infected tissue, causing inflammation," Jacobson said.
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