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Warpy

(110,913 posts)
Sat May 30, 2020, 09:34 PM May 2020

Coronavirus May Be a Blood Vessel Disease, Which Explains Everything

In April, blood clots emerged as one of the many mysterious symptoms attributed to Covid-19, a disease that had initially been thought to largely affect the lungs in the form of pneumonia. Quickly after came reports of young people dying due to coronavirus-related strokes. Next it was Covid toes — painful red or purple digits.

What do all of these symptoms have in common? An impairment in blood circulation. Add in the fact that 40% of deaths from Covid-19 are related to cardiovascular complications, and the disease starts to look like a vascular infection instead of a purely respiratory one.

Months into the pandemic, there is now a growing body of evidence to support the theory that the novel coronavirus can infect blood vessels, which could explain not only the high prevalence of blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks, but also provide an answer for the diverse set of head-to-toe symptoms that have emerged.

https://elemental.medium.com/coronavirus-may-be-a-blood-vessel-disease-which-explains-everything-2c4032481ab2

Excellent article which is still highly speculative, but which could very well point the way toward getting more of us to survive this disease. Not much medicalese, easy read.

12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Coronavirus May Be a Blood Vessel Disease, Which Explains Everything (Original Post) Warpy May 2020 OP
I found the same article on Facebook and put it in GD! CaliforniaPeggy May 2020 #1
My grown daughter has clotting issues.. agingdem May 2020 #2
I found this interesting. LisaM May 2020 #3
Really interesting! Chemisse May 2020 #4
Would this also explain the rashes some people get? BigmanPigman May 2020 #5
Another related article... Buckeye_Democrat May 2020 #6
There is also an interesting article in The Lancet Warpy May 2020 #11
Yes. The blood clotting issues were noticed weeks ago... Buckeye_Democrat May 2020 #12
Thank you for posting this most interesting article. niyad May 2020 #7
Which might explain the odd seeming results of nicotine users which was noticed in France. herding cats May 2020 #8
this is part of the reason Vitamin D3 is recommended yellowdogintexas May 2020 #9
I didn't suck at math and got packed off to e-school Warpy May 2020 #10

agingdem

(7,759 posts)
2. My grown daughter has clotting issues..
Sat May 30, 2020, 09:59 PM
May 2020

Last edited Sun May 31, 2020, 12:47 PM - Edit history (1)

She been on blood thinner Plavix for ten years.. if clots are a major symptom of the virus then hopefully she’s covered

LisaM

(27,762 posts)
3. I found this interesting.
Sat May 30, 2020, 11:56 PM
May 2020

I don't have any hopes for an early vaccine, so the next best thing is quick, reliable testing and treatment. I hope this helps is a breakthrough.

Chemisse

(30,793 posts)
4. Really interesting!
Sun May 31, 2020, 12:20 AM
May 2020

I love reading articles like this, that provide a new slant or an illuminating interpretation of the current research. I did not know about furin, the second protein needed to gain access to the cell, being found all through the body, and how that differs from SARS1. It's also interesting that cytokine storms are not what are causing the array of symptoms.

The article made a little jump, from infecting the endothelium of the blood vessels to infecting blood cells. Perhaps it was just an error the author made, not realizing they were distinctly different.

I posted a Web MD article in the Health group the other day that discussed the results of the recent NEJM study with surprising scientific detail.

Buckeye_Democrat

(14,847 posts)
6. Another related article...
Sun May 31, 2020, 12:28 AM
May 2020
https://idpjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40249-020-00662-x

Methods
We compared ACE2 expression levels across 31 normal human tissues between males and females and between younger (ages ? 49?years) and older (ages >?49?years) persons using two-sided Student’s t test. We also investigated the correlations between ACE2 expression and immune signatures in various tissues using Pearson’s correlation test.

Results
ACE2 expression levels were the highest in the small intestine, testis, kidneys, heart, thyroid, and adipose tissue, and were the lowest in the blood, spleen, bone marrow, brain, blood vessels, and muscle. ACE2 showed medium expression levels in the lungs, colon, liver, bladder, and adrenal gland. ACE2 was not differentially expressed between males and females or between younger and older persons in any tissue. In the skin, digestive system, brain, and blood vessels, ACE2 expression levels were positively associated with immune signatures in both males and females. In the thyroid and lungs, ACE2 expression levels were positively and negatively associated with immune signatures in males and females, respectively, and in the lungs they had a positive and a negative correlation in the older and younger groups, respectively.

Conclusions
Our data indicate that SARS-CoV-2 may infect other tissues aside from the lungs and infect persons with different sexes, ages, and races equally. The different host immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection may partially explain why males and females, young and old persons infected with this virus have markedly distinct disease severity. This study provides new insights into the role of ACE2 in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Warpy

(110,913 posts)
11. There is also an interesting article in The Lancet
Sun May 31, 2020, 02:55 AM
May 2020

which contains the statement:

Intriguingly, SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect engineered human blood vessel organoids in vitro


which I found very interesting. This line of reasoning is being pursued in many different places at the same time and with that pursuit might come a better treatment for this thing.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30937-5/fulltext

It's obvious that treating it purely like a respiratory infection is failing miserably, too many people being adequately ventilated are dying.

What likely got people interested in this line of reasoning in the first place is the systemic vasculitis a small number of children have developed post Covid.

Buckeye_Democrat

(14,847 posts)
12. Yes. The blood clotting issues were noticed weeks ago...
Sun May 31, 2020, 03:03 AM
May 2020

... and it's good to see what looks like progress in determining the mechanism.

From what I've read, the binding of the virus to ACE2 receptors has been known for awhile, but it was still unexpected to spread so much throughout the body.

The study that I posted didn't explain the differences, but I still thought it was interesting how it seemed to confirm observations -- that older people are more prone to lung problems and younger people are more prone to other issues.

herding cats

(19,549 posts)
8. Which might explain the odd seeming results of nicotine users which was noticed in France.
Sun May 31, 2020, 12:32 AM
May 2020

Interesting, but still extremely preliminary hypothesis.

yellowdogintexas

(22,119 posts)
9. this is part of the reason Vitamin D3 is recommended
Sun May 31, 2020, 01:09 AM
May 2020

It aids in formation and health of epithelial cells, which line every part of the human body, including blood vessels. If I step away from all the harm the virus is doing, I find all these interlinking factors absolutely fascinating.

But then I am a medical information nerd. If I didn't suck at math so badly, I would have majored in biology.

Warpy

(110,913 posts)
10. I didn't suck at math and got packed off to e-school
Sun May 31, 2020, 02:44 AM
May 2020

hated it, and went into nursing later on.

I suggest getting D tested, especially if you're a POC at high latitudes, something I don't share, and lactose intolerant, which I do. Dairy is fortified with vitamin D but not all of us can tolerate it in sufficient quantity to keep our levels up. D3 replacement if levels are low won't hurt and can certainly help.

Extra D3 if levels are normal is probably not going to do much.

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