pacman schreef op 27 maart 2021 12:52:
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Research Roundup: COVID-19 Survivors, Blood Clots and More
26 march 2021,
COVID-19 Survivors May Be at Increased Risk of Blood Clots
One of the peculiar symptoms seen in some COVID-19 patients is blood clotting, which could lead to strokes. Studies are noting that COVID-19 survivors, especially ones with heart disease or diabetes, appear to be at increased risk of blood clots or strokes. The cause appears to be the result of prolonged immune response. The researchers, out of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, published the results of their study in eLife.
“During the initial stages of infection, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may attack the lining of the blood vessels which can trigger inflammation and an immune response,” said Florence Chio, research assistant and first author of the study at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at Nanyang Technological University. “This can result in blood vessel damage in the short term. For our study, we wanted to investigate what happens in the blood vessels of COVID-19 survivors over the longer term.”
They collected blood samples from COVID-19 survivors within a month of recovery and hospital discharge. In comparison to healthy people, COVID-19 survivors have twice as many damaged blood vessel cells known as circulating endothelial cells. And they found even more damaged blood vessel cells in survivors with high blood pressure or diabetes. They also found a surplus of inflammatory proteins called cytokines that are manufactured by immune cells, in particular, an unusually high number of T-cells.
“We show that an overactive immune system is the likely cause of blood vessel damage seen in some COVID-19 survivors,” Chio said. “This may cause ‘leakiness’ in the blood vessels that increases the risk of blood clots.