First evidence of inflammatory micro clots in blood of people suffering from Long COVID: This may be the reason for some of the lingering symptoms experienced by individuals with Long COVID.
New research study indicates that an overload of different inflammatory molecules, actually “trapped” inside insoluble tiny embolism (micro clots), may be the reason for some of the lingering signs experienced by individuals with Long COVID.
Working with vascular internist Dr. Jaco Laubscher from Mediclinic Stellenbosch (a co-author on the short article), they now prepare to carry out the same analysis on a larger sample of patients. To date they have gathered blood from one hundred Long COVID individuals who participated in the Long COVID registry which launched in May 2021, as well as from 30 healthy people. The research study is funded by the Long COVID Research Charitable Trust, a trust developed with an initial donation made by Mr. Koos Pretorius from ENSafrica. It is planned that this trust will be utilized as an automobile to raise additional funds for research into the causes and effective treatment of people suffering from Long COVID.
This unforeseen finding was made by Prof Resia Pretorius, a researcher in the Department of Physiological Science at Stellenbosch University (SU), when she started taking a look at micro clots and their molecular material in blood samples from people with Long COVID. The findings have actually because been peer-reviewed and released in the journal Cardiovascular Diabetology in August 2021.
” We found high levels of different inflammatory particles trapped in micro embolisms present in the blood of people with Long COVID. Some of the caught particles consist of clotting proteins such as fibrinogen, in addition to alpha( 2 )- antiplasmin,” Prof Pretorius describes.
Alpha( 2 )- antiplasmin is a molecule that prevents the breakdown of embolism, while fibrinogen is the main clotting protein. Under regular conditions the bodys plasmin-antiplasmin system preserves a great balance between blood clot (the procedure by which blood thickens and coagulate to prevent blood loss after an injury) and fibrinolysis (the procedure of breaking down the fibrin in the coagulated blood to avoid embolism from forming).
With high levels of alpha( 2 )- antiplasmin in the blood of COVID-19 patients and people struggling with Long COVID, the bodys capability to break down the embolisms are significantly hindered.
Fluorescent image of healthy blood plasma (left) compared to the micro clots in the plasma from a specific with Long-COVID on the right. Credit: Resia Pretorius
The insolubility of the micro embolisms became evident when Dr Maré Vlok, a senior expert in the Mass Spectrometry Unit at SUs Central Analytical Facilities, kept in mind that the blood plasma samples from individuals with severe COVID and Long COVID continued to deposit insoluble pellets at the bottom of the tubes after dilution (a process called trypsinization).
He notified Prof Pretorius to this observation and she investigated it further. They are now the first research group to have actually reported on discovering micro clots in the blood samples from people with Long COVID, utilizing fluorescence microscopy and proteomics analysis, consequently fixing yet another puzzle connected with the illness.
Of particular interest is the synchronised presence of consistent anomalous micro clots and a pathological fibrinolytic system,” they write in the term paper. This indicates that the plasmin and antiplasmin balance may be central to pathologies in Long COVID, and offers further evidence that COVID-19, and now Long COVID, have substantial cardiovascular and clotting pathologies.
More research study is recommended into a regime of treatments to support clotting and fibrinolytic system function in individuals with lingering Long COVID symptoms.
To date they have collected blood from one hundred Long COVID individuals who got involved in the Long COVID pc registry which introduced in May 2021, as well as from 30 healthy individuals. The research study is funded by the Long COVID Research Charitable Trust, a trust developed with an initial donation made by Mr. Koos Pretorius from ENSafrica.
Reference: “Persistent clotting protein pathology in Long COVID/Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) is accompanied by increased levels of antiplasmin” by Etheresia Pretorius, Mare Vlok, Chantelle Venter, Johannes A. Bezuidenhout, Gert Jacobus Laubscher, Janami Steenkamp and Douglas B. Kell, 23 August 2021, Cardiovascular Diabetology.DOI: 10.1186/ s12933-021-01359-7.