Blood clotting may be the root cause of Long COVID syndrome, research
shows

Date:
August 16, 2021
Source:
RCSI
Summary:
New evidence shows that patients with Long COVID syndrome continue
to have higher measures of blood clotting, which may help explain
their persistent symptoms, such as reduced physical fitness and
fatigue.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
New evidence shows that patients with Long COVID syndrome continue to
have higher measures of blood clotting, which may help explain their
persistent symptoms, such as reduced physical fitness and fatigue.


==========================================================================
The study, led by researchers from RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, is published in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis.

Previous work by the same group studied the dangerous clotting observed
in patients with severe acute COVID-19. However, far less is known about
Long COVID syndrome, where symptoms can last weeks to months after the
initial infection has resolved and is estimated to affect millions of
people worldwide.

The researchers examined 50 patients with symptoms of Long COVID syndrome
to better understand if abnormal blood clotting is involved.

They discovered that clotting markers were significantly elevated in
the blood of patients with Long COVID syndrome compared with healthy
controls. These clotting markers were higher in patients who required hospitalisation with their initial COVID-19 infection, but they also
found that even those who were able to manage their illness at home
still had persistently high clotting markers.

The researchers observed that higher clotting was directly related to
other symptoms of Long COVID syndrome, such as reduced physical fitness
and fatigue.

Even though markers of inflammation had all returned to normal levels,
this increased clotting potential was still present in Long COVID
patients.

"Because clotting markers were elevated while inflammation markers had
returned to normal, our results suggest that the clotting system may
be involved in the root cause of Long COVID syndrome," said Dr Helen
Fogarty, the study's lead author, ICAT Fellow and PhD student at the
Irish Centre for Vascular Biology in the RCSI School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences.

This work was funded by the Welcome Trust, the Health Research Board
(HRB) Irish Clinical Academic Training (ICAT) programme as well as
the HRB-funded Irish COVID-19 Vasculopathy Study (ICVS). The work
was also supported by a philanthropic grant from the 3M Foundation to
RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences in support of COVID-19 research.

"Understanding the root cause of a disease is the first step toward
developing effective treatments," said Professor James O'Donnell,
Director of the Irish Centre for Vascular Biology, RCSI and Consultant Haematologist in the National Coagulation Centre in St James's Hospital, Dublin.

"Millions of people are already dealing with the symptoms of Long COVID syndrome, and more people will develop Long COVID as the infections
among the unvaccinated continue to occur. It is imperative that we
continue to study this condition and develop effective treatments." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by RCSI. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Helen Fogarty, Liam Townsend, Hannah Morrin, Azaz Ahmad, Claire
Comerford, Ellie Karampini, Hanna Englert, Mary Byrne, Colm Bergin,
Jamie M. O'Sullivan, Ignacio Martin‐Loeches, Parthiban
Nadarajan, Ciaran Bannan, Patrick W. Mallon, Gerard F. Curley,
Roger J.S. Preston, Aisling M. Rehill, Dennis McGonagle, Cliona Ni
Cheallaigh, Ross I. Baker, Thomas Renne', Soracha E. Ward, James
S. O' Donnell. Persistent Endotheliopathy in the Pathogenesis of
Long COVID Syndrome. Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 2021;
DOI: 10.1111/jth.15490 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210816125717.htm

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