Blood: SARS-CoV-2 causes platelet hyperactivity and increases risk of blood clot formation

, July 7, 2020 /
bio-valley/--- In a new study, researchers at the University of Utah reported that platelet changes caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection may cause heart disease,stroke
and other serious complications in some PATIENTsThey found that inflammatory proteins produced during infection significantly alter the function of platelets, making them "overactive" and more prone to dangerous and potentially deadly blood clotsA better understanding of the underlying causes of these changes could lead to treatments that prevent them from occurring in patients with COVID-19, they saidThe findings were recently published in the journal Blood under the title "Platelet Gene Expression and Function in COVID-19 Patients"picture from CC0 Public Domain"Our findings help people better understand COVID-19," said DrRobert ACampbell,paper's author and an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of UtahWe found that inflammation and systemic changes due to infection affect platelet function, causing them to accumulate more quickly, which may explain why we observed an increase in the number of blood clots in PATIENTs with COVID"
emerging evidence suggests that COVID-19 is associated with an increased risk of blood clots, which can lead to cardiovascular problems and organ failure in some patients, especially those with basic medical conditions such asdiabetes
, obesity, or high blood pressure ." to find out what might happen, the researchers studied 41 PATIENTs with COVID-19 who were hospitalized at the University of Utah Hospital Seventeen of the patients were in intensive care (ICU), including nine who were on ventilators They compared blood from these patients with blood samples taken from healthy people of age and gender using genetic difference expression analysis, the researchers found that SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, appears to trigger genetic changes
in platelets In laboratory studies, they studied the important components of blood clot formation--- platelet aggregation, and observed that platelets in PATIENTs with COVID-19 were more likely to accumulate They also note that these changes significantly alter platelets' interactions with the immune system, potentially leading to inflammation of the respiratory tract, which in turn can lead to more severe lung damage surprising, Campbell and his colleagues found no evidence of the virus in the vast majority of platelets, suggesting that it may indirectly contribute to genetic changes in these cells One possible mechanism is inflammation, said Dr Bhanu Kanth Manne, lead author and research assistant for the Molecular Medicine Project at the University of Utah In theory, inflammation caused by COVID-19 may affect macronuclear cells, the cells that produce platelets As a result, key genetic changes are passed from giant nuclear cells to platelets, making them overactive in ivf studies, the researchers found that pre-treatment of platelets from SARS-CoV-2 infection patients with aspirin could indeed prevent this overactivity These findings suggest that aspirin may improve treatment outcomes, but this requires further research in the of clinical trials For now, Campbell cautions against using aspirin to treat COVID-19 unless recommended by a doctor at the same time, the researchers began looking for other possible treatments "We can target some genetic processes to prevent platelet changes," Campbell said We can target some genetic processes to prevent platelet changes If we can figure out how COVID-19 interacts with macronuclear cells or platelets, we may stop this interaction and reduce someone's risk of developing blood clots " (Bio Valley Bioon.com) References: 1.Bhanu Kanth Manne et al.
Platelet Gene Expression and Function in COVID-19 Patients Blood, 2020, doi: 10.1182/blood.202007214.
2 COVID-19 CAUSEs 'hyperactivity' in blood-clotting cells