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Persistent COVID-19[female[feminine Symptoms in “long-haul” may be caused by an overload of inflammatory cells “trapped” inside insoluble microscopic blood clots, according to researchers at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
Professor Resia Pretorius, a member of the university’s physiological sciences department, made the discovery with his research team while studying micro-clots in blood samples from individuals with “long COVID”.
“We have found elevated levels of various inflammatory molecules trapped in micro-clots present in the blood of individuals with long COVID,” Pretorius said in a press release. “Some of the trapped molecules contain coagulation proteins such as fibrinogen, as well as alpha (2) -antiplasmin”.
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Fibrinogen is a protein involved in clot formation, while the molecule, alpha (2) -antiplasmin, prevents the breakdown of blood clots, the authors explained in the release.
Generally, the body is able to maintain a balance between the process of blood clotting (thickening of the blood to prevent blood loss after injury) and fibrinolysis (the breakdown of fibrin in the blood to prevent the formation of blood clots), according to health experts.
However, when high levels of alpha (2) -antiplasmin are present in the blood of patients infected with COVID-19 and those with “long VOC”, the body’s ability to break down clots is significantly hampered, have explained the researchers in the study.
The researchers also noted an important finding, namely that blood plasma samples taken from acute COVID-19 and “long COVID” patients continued to deposit insoluble pellets at the bottom of sample tubes.
The research team was the first to report the discovery of these micro-clots in blood samples from COVID patients, helping to solve another puzzling element of the disease, according to the study.
“The simultaneous presence of persistent abnormal micro-clots and a pathologic fibrinolytic system is of particular interest,” the authors said in their report.
Research teams said these results provide further evidence that both COVID-19 and “long COVID” had significant cardiovascular and coagulation pathologies. They recommended further research into therapeutic therapies to support coagulation and the fibrinolytic system in patients with symptoms of “long COVID.”
Mount Sinai South Nassau, Chief Infectious Disease Officer Dr Aaron Glatt, spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, was not involved in the study, but told Fox News: “This is ‘an interesting but very preliminary finding which needs to be further investigated before any clinical actions can be taken on the basis of these data. “
The hospital epidemiologist added: “We currently have no full understanding of the ‘long COVID’, but hopefully this will be another piece of the puzzle that allows us to better understand and treat this important and common complication. of COVID-19 disease. “
The study was peer reviewed and published in the journal Cardiovascular Diabetology in August 2021.
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