A genetic variant protects against the risk of thrombus formation in patients with Covid-19

by time news

R. I.

Updated:06/01/2022 10:00 a.m.

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A genetic variant of the immune system influences the risk of blood clots forming in the lungs of severely ill patients with Covid-19. This has been documented in a new study by researchers at Uppsala University and the Karolinska Institute that has been published in “Nature Immunology”.

“With this study, we are one step closer to explaining why Covid-19 patients have a substantially increased risk of blood clots,” says Oskar Eriksson, a physician and researcher at Uppsala University and one of the lead authors of the study. Article.

During the pandemic, it became clear that patients with Covid-19 had a substantially increased risk of blood clots, even when treated with anticoagulants.

It is still not clear why Covid-19 causes such a significant activation of the blood coagulation system in some patients.

Researchers at Uppsala University and Karolinska Institutet have now discovered that a variant of the gene, which regulates levels of the mannose-binding protein lectin in the blood, protects against clots in the lungs.

Recognize the coronavirus

Mannose-binding lectin is part of the natural immune system. Discovers and eliminates cells infected by bacteria and viruses. Another recent study showed that mannose-binding lectin recognizes the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 and can neutralize cells infected with the virus.

“We can now demonstrate how mannose-binding lectin influences the course of Covid-19 disease. Surprisingly, it is the risk of blood clot formation that is affected, and we could not see that mannose-binding lectin influences the risk of getting sick with Covid-19. We can show that the immune system is important for the formation of clots in Covid-19 patients, something that has been suspected for a long time and that may explain why such high doses of anticoagulants have been necessary, “says Oskar Eriksson.

“The extensive studies that have been presented in the last year have identified several genetic variants that influence the risk of becoming seriously ill with Covid-19. Our work shows that there is also a genetic background for the complications that affect Covid-19 patients”, says Hugo Zeberg, doctor and researcher at the Karolinska Institutet and co-responsible for the study.

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