Immune Computation and COVID-19 Mortality: A Rationale for IVIg

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Computational Biology
• Gerontology

Background:

• COVID-19 poses a greater mortality risk for older individuals.
• Lethality is often caused by an overactive inflammatory response, termed cytokine storm, leading to organ failure.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore immune regulation of inflammatory responses in COVID-19.
• To propose a novel therapeutic strategy for elderly COVID-19 patients.

Main Methods:

• Analogy drawn between immune system learning and computer machine learning algorithms.
• Conceptual framework for immune response modulation.

Main Results:

• Immune regulation processes share strategic similarities with machine learning.
• A potential therapeutic approach involves leveraging immune memory from younger, healthy individuals.

Conclusions:

• Elderly patients with COVID-19 could benefit from a 'wellness repertoire' of antibodies.
• Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) is proposed as a method to administer beneficial antibody training sets to rebalance the immune response.