For months, scientists have expressed concern Increase in cardiovascular disease in COVID-19 patients, even long after the SARS-CoV-2 virus has wiped out their bodies.These heart problems have long been part of a larger debate Long-term aftermath of COVID-19When June study According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, people who are reinfected with COVID-19 are even twice as likely to die or have a heart attack as those who were infected only once.
“The two respiratory viruses (COVID and influenza) look very different in the hearts of these patients.”
now, new research The scientific journal Immunology uses a technique known as spatial transcriptomics to allow scientists to directly map how genes are expressed in tissues, and how the SARS-CoV-2 virus affects human organs. It reveals unique influences. This study compared SARS-CoV-2 to the influenza virus H1N1 that caused the 2009 pandemic.
Unfortunately, evidence also suggests that the SARS-CoV-2 virus causes longer-lasting damage to human organs compared to H1N1.
In this study, scientists examined and compared heart tissue from individuals who died of both diseases and a group of control patients. Although he did not have the SARS-CoV-2 virus per se in the heart tissue of COVID-19 patients, the myocardium showed signs of DNA damage unique to them. This was completely different from the inflammatory signal in flu patients. In contrast, COVID-19 patients had suppressed inflammatory signals.
“The two respiratory viruses (COVID and influenza) look very different in the hearts of these patients,” lead author Dr. Arutha Kulasinghe of the University of Queensland told Salon in an email. DNA damage is a marker of genomic instability and is known in chronic diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and diabetes, but its role in COVID is unknown and its clinical implications at this stage are unknown. is not clear.”
Krasinge expressed concern that their findings could be the ‘canary in the coal mine’, saying there are fundamental biological differences between the effects of influenza and COVID-19 on the human heart. made it clear.
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Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease physician and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the study, told Salon in an email that only four autopsies from old COVID were included. He said the study was small because – 19 patients – all had heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. As such, “While this study may indicate that severe COVID-19 in patients with underlying heart disease can lead to additional cardiac inflammation, COVID-19 We have yet to draw any conclusions about its effect on the heart, the underlying heart condition,” Gandhi explained. “This is a ‘what-if’ study that should motivate us to further study the inflammatory response to COVID-19 and continue to minimize severe illness from her SARS-CoV-2 through vaccines and therapies.” is.”
Putting the study in the larger context, Dr Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, told Salon via email: Protective vaccines are against specific organ damage. Therefore, this is another important research area. ”
A list of cardiac-released symptoms associated with early COVID-19 infection includes myocarditis, palpitations, heart failure, and arrhythmias.
The scientists behind the immunology studies were modest when describing the breadth of their findings.
“Covid-19 and influenza show very different effects on the heart. “More work needs to be done to determine the utility of this DNA damage signal (confirmed in a severely ill ICU patient who subsequently died),” Krasinge told Salon. It is unclear what it means for living patients after infection.”
One possible approach is for scientists to look for the same DNA damage signals found in heart tissue in nasal swabs and blood samples. If the same DNA damage is detected there, it may help doctors determine possible heart complications long in advance.
Concerns about heart disease and long COVID wider conversation About the long-term effects of COVID-19. There are indications that COVID-19 can cause long-term damage to the brain, lungs, and other vital organs, but the SARS-CoV-2 virus is so new in the field that scientists aren’t sure about its long-term effects. impact cannot be assessed with certainty. Immunology research notes that the first list of heart-free symptoms associated with her COVID-19 infection includes myocarditis, palpitations, heart failure and arrhythmias.
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