Around the world, scientists are racing to find ways to combat the symptoms of COVID-19 as the number of global cases surpasses 9 million. Researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas recently pinpointed a potential strategy for counteracting the acceleration of the illness in the lungs.

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Fourteen scientists from the Center for Advanced Pain Studies (CAPS), a component of UT Dallas' School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS), collaborated on a project to determine if the pulmonary issues associated with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, could originate with the nervous system.

Their study, published online June 1 in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, identifies interactions between the immune system and nerves in the lungs that can cause rapid deterioration in a COVID-19 patient's condition. Some of these interactions might be countered by existing drugs, they said.