COVID-19 can Cause Organ Damage in Adults: Here's How

How dangerous is COVID-19? High levels of fibrinogen (blood protein) in COVID-19 patients can affect blood flow and lead to organ damage.

Watch out, COVID-19 can affect your organs. A new study reports that COVID-19 damages the cells lining the tiniest blood vessels, choking off blood flow, and thereby leading to organ damage.

The results, published in the journal Nature Communications, could pave the way for new treatments to save lives at a time when hundreds of people are still dying from COVID-19 each day.

Beyond the Lungs: COVID-19 is Still Dangerous

Even after three years since the emergence of COVID, much remains unknown about how it causes severe disease, including the widespread organ damage beyond just the lungs.

Post-COVID Syndrome
Post-COVID complications are the conditions that develop weeks after recovering from COVID-19

‘Elevated levels of blood protein called fibrinogen in COVID-19 patients could lead to organ damage.’
Read More..

To understand, a multidisciplinary team from the University of Emory in the US, studied multiple datasets to examine the biochemistry of blood from COVID patients and compared it to non-COVID patients.

"One unique pathway that stood out was related to vessel health and blood flow," said Cheryl Maier, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, at Emory's School of Medicine.

Further, the team created cutting-edge models of the smallest blood vessels, expected to be the most sensitive to altered blood flow. The models allowed them to visualize how blood from COVID-19 patients versus other patients might be flowing in the human body.

Is Fibrinogen High in COVID-19 Patients?

They found that COVID-19 patients had severely high levels of a blood protein called fibrinogen. It causes red blood cells (RBC) to clump together, altering blood flow and directly damaging the endothelial glycocalyx -- a gelatinous protective layer lining the microvessels.

COVID-19 can Infect Kidneys Directly
SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 causing virus directly invades human kidney cells -- specifically the proximal tubules, which are major gatekeepers in the organ's waste-filtering function.

When the researchers combined plasma from COVID patients with RBC in lab-made blood vessels, they could visualize the cellular aggregation and quantify the destruction of the endothelial cell glycocalyx.

Taken together, these data suggest that the fibrinogen-induced red blood cell aggregation and resulting microvascular damage could be the major pathway by which COVID causes organ damage and even death.

COVID-19: Diet Plan and Lifestyle Modifications for the Unlock Phase
Healthy eating habits and adherence to physical activity are required during COVID-19 lockdown. WHO has prepared a set of general tips that you could follow during the lockdown to stay fit and healthy.

There's presently no medications targeting high fibrinogen in the blood.

However, the team has done exploratory research using therapeutic plasma exchange: removing plasma with high fibrinogen from COVID-19 patients and replacing it with donor plasma that has normal fibrinogen levels.

Tips to Care for Your Liver During COVID-19
COVID-19 pandemic can be dangerous for people suffering from liver disease as they are at a higher risk of suffering from severe complications.

According to Maier, the discovery is critical because it provides a target that might help save lives.

Source-IANS