A new report has revealed that up to half of severe COVID19 patients have been dealing with blood clotting in veins, arteries, and microscopic vessels. Now, experts have been able to find the reason behind such a condition. They have revealed that a mysterious autoimmune antibody and high levels of neutrophils have been circulating in the bloodstream of the patients, which have been attacking the cells. The autoimmune antibody has led to blood clots in the arteries. Experts fear that such blood clots can cause life-threatening incidents such as heart attack or stroke. In the cases of severe COVID19 disease, microscopic clots can block blood flow in the lungs, which can damage oxygen exchange. Apart from COVID19 infection, these autoimmune antibodies are found in patients who have an autoimmune disease called antiphospholipid syndrome. Scientists have said that the connection between autoimmune antibodies and COVID19 is quite rare.
Many patients with COVID19 have been dealing with an increased level of inflammation and blood clotting in the body. Experts have seen that it has been causing severe kind of blood clotting in severe COVID19 patients. These negative antibodies along with neutrophils have been behind the condition. The new report has suggested that half of the patients with COVID19 who have been hospitalized have been identified with at least one of these autoantibodies. This study has been done by the Michigan Medicine Frankel Cardiovascular Center and the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lungs, and Blood Institute. The Michigan Medicine Center has been studying antiphospholipid syndrome for years.
The new research has found that nearly half of the severe COVID19 patients have been dealing with a mix of high levels of autoantibodies and super activated neutrophils. Neutrophils are a form of exploding white cells, which are destructive in nature. Early this year, many patients who have been dealing with severe COVID19 have been identified with high levels of neutrophil extracellular traps in the bloodstream. Experts have done an experiment on rodents to see if a combination of neutrophils and autoantibodies can cause these fatal blood clots or not. They have found that the combination has caused a significant amount of clotting in the animals.
