A synthetic peptide developed by researchers at the Medical College of Georgia could help reduce vascular problems associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome in COVID-19.

In severe cases, COVID-19 is associated with the syndrome, which happens when fluid builds up in the tiny, elastic air sacs in the lungs, keeping them from filling with enough air and keeping oxygen from reaching the bloodstream. “These are the people who get the sickest from the virus,” says Rudolf Lucas, PhD, vascular biologist in the Vascular Biology Center at the Medical College of Georgia. “It is a pathology with a very bad prognosis. Many of these patients must go on a ventilator and a significant percentage of them succumb.”

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[EurekAlert, 2023.10.3, https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1003534]