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Scientists have identified how and why some Covid-19 patients can develop potentially fatal clots, which could lead to targeted therapies that prevent this from happening.
The work, led by researchers from the RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, is published in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis.
Previous research has established that blood clotting is a significant cause of death in patients with Covid-19. To understand why this clotting occurs, the researchers analyzed blood samples taken from patients with Covid-19 in the intensive care unit at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.
They found that the balance between a molecule that causes clotting, called von Willebrand factor (VWF), and its regulator, called ADAMTS13, is severely disrupted in patients with severe Covid-19.
Compared to control groups, the blood of Covid-19 patients exhibited higher levels of procoagulant VWF molecules and lower levels of anticoagulant ADAMTS13. In addition, the researchers identified other changes in the proteins that caused the reduction of ADAMTS13.
“Our research helps to better understand the mechanisms that cause severe blood clots in patients with Covid-19, which is essential for developing more effective treatments,” said Dr Jamie O’Sullivan, corresponding author of the study and lecturer at the Irish Center for Vascular Biology at RCSI.
“While more research is needed to determine whether targets to correct ADAMTS13 and VWF levels can be a successful therapeutic intervention, it is important that we continue to develop therapies for patients with Covid-19. Covid-19 vaccines will continue to be inaccessible to many people around the world, and it is important that we provide effective treatments to them, as well as to those with chronic infections. “
This work was funded by the Irish COVID-19 Vasculopathy Study (ICVS) via the Health Research Board’s COVID-19 Rapid Response Award as well as a philanthropic grant from the 3M Foundation to the University of Medicine and RCSI Health Sciences in Support of COVID-19 Research.
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