- Despite the debilitating nature of long COVID, there is an absence of diagnostic tests and therapeutic tools for long COVID.
- A new study analyzed blood samples from long COVID patients and healthy individuals. The findings suggest a dysregulation of the complement pathway, a part of the immune system, and the blood clotting pathways in individuals with long COVID at six months.
- Changes in certain molecules in these immune and blood clotting pathways were predictive of the persistence of long COVID symptoms at 6 and 12 months, indicating the utility of these measures in developing diagnostic tools for long COVID.
- The dysregulation of these immune and blood clotting pathways suggests that therapies targeting these pathways could help treat long COVID.
Approximately 10%-20%Trusted Source of individuals with a SARS-CoV-2 infection experience lingering symptoms beyond three months after symptom onset. These symptoms referred to as long COVID, can be debilitating, but there is a lack of diagnostic or therapeutic tools.
A new study published in Science found that patients experiencing long COVID symptoms six months after the SARS-CoV-2 infection show dysregulation of the blood clotting or coagulation system and the complement pathway, which is a part of the immune system.
These changes in the coagulation and immune systems in long COVID patients were shown to predict the persistence of symptoms at six months. They may have the potential for the development of diagnostic tools. Moreover, therapeutics to counter the changes in the blood clotting and immune system could help alleviate long COVID symptoms.
Dr. Wolfram Ruf, Scientific Director at the Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis (CTH), Johannes Gutenberg University, wrote in an accompanying editorial:
“Although therapeutic interventions with coagulation and complement inhibitors in acute COVID-19 produced mixed results, the pathological features specific for Long Covid suggest potential interventions for clinical testing.”