Study finds long Covid biomarkers in blood linked to respiratory problems
A team of Swedish researchers has identified biomarkers in the blood associated with symptoms of long Covid, particularly severe respiratory disorders.
Long Covid is a condition characterised by persistent symptoms including acute breathlessness and fatigue, after an infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The team from Karolinska Institutet discovered a set of proteins in the blood of people with long Covid. The findings may pave the way for future diagnosis and treatment.
"The proteins were mainly found in patients with long Covid and severe respiratory problems," said Marcus Buggert, docent at the Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet.
"This is a biomarker pattern that we know to be linked to inflammatory signal pathways involved in cell death and lung damage and that has also been observed in other patient groups with severe pulmonary disorders," he added.
For the study, the team analysed blood samples from 265 patients in Sweden and the UK, who contracted Covid when no vaccine was yet available.
Using advanced techniques, the researchers measured thousands of proteins in the blood plasma, which they related to the patient's symptoms.
The results, published in the journal Nature Immunology, exposed the underlying biological processes that can cause certain patients to experience severe symptoms long after previous Covid-19.
"By identifying the proteins that are elevated in affected patients, we're creating a platform from which to develop diagnostic tools and new targeted therapies," Dr. Buggert said. "This is especially important since there are no specific biomarkers and treatments for long Covid."
The team next aims to study lung and gastrointestinal tissue to understand what underpins this pattern.
This will likely enable them to locate the source of the identified proteins and find if there is any remaining inflammation or tissue damage in specific organs of patients with long Covid, they said.
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