TY - JOUR
T1 - Extracellular Vesicles of COVID-19 Patients Reflect Inflammation, Thrombogenicity, and Disease Severity
AU - Aharon, Anat
AU - Dangot, Ayelet
AU - Kinaani, Fadi
AU - Zavaro, Mor
AU - Bannon, Lian
AU - Bar-lev, Tali
AU - Keren-Politansky, Anat
AU - Avivi, Irit
AU - Jacob, Giris
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/3/21
Y1 - 2023/3/21
N2 - Severe COVID-19 infections present with cytokine storms, hypercoagulation, and acute respiratory distress syndrome, with extracellular vesicles (EVs) being involved in coagulation and inflammation. This study aimed to determine whether coagulation profiles and EVs reflect COVID-19 disease severity. Thirty-six patients with symptomatic COVID-19 infection with mild/moderate/severe disease (12 in each group) were analyzed. Sixteen healthy individuals served as controls. Coagulation profiles and EV characteristics were tested by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), flow cytometry, and Western blot. While coagulation factors VII, V, VIII, and vWF were comparable, significant differences were found in patients’ D-Dimer/fibrinogen/free protein S levels compared to controls. Severe patients’ EVs displayed higher percentages of small EVs (<150 nm) with increased expression of exosome marker CD63. Severe patients’ EVs displayed high levels of platelet markers (CD41) and coagulation factors (tissue factor activity, endothelial protein C receptor). EVs of patients with moderate/severe disease expressed significantly higher levels of immune cell markers (CD4/CD8/CD14) and contained higher levels of IL-6. We demonstrated that EVs, but not the coagulation profile, may serve as biomarkers for COVID-19 severity. EVs demonstrated elevated levels of immune- and vascular-related markers in patients with moderate/severe disease, and may play a role in disease pathogenesis.
AB - Severe COVID-19 infections present with cytokine storms, hypercoagulation, and acute respiratory distress syndrome, with extracellular vesicles (EVs) being involved in coagulation and inflammation. This study aimed to determine whether coagulation profiles and EVs reflect COVID-19 disease severity. Thirty-six patients with symptomatic COVID-19 infection with mild/moderate/severe disease (12 in each group) were analyzed. Sixteen healthy individuals served as controls. Coagulation profiles and EV characteristics were tested by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), flow cytometry, and Western blot. While coagulation factors VII, V, VIII, and vWF were comparable, significant differences were found in patients’ D-Dimer/fibrinogen/free protein S levels compared to controls. Severe patients’ EVs displayed higher percentages of small EVs (<150 nm) with increased expression of exosome marker CD63. Severe patients’ EVs displayed high levels of platelet markers (CD41) and coagulation factors (tissue factor activity, endothelial protein C receptor). EVs of patients with moderate/severe disease expressed significantly higher levels of immune cell markers (CD4/CD8/CD14) and contained higher levels of IL-6. We demonstrated that EVs, but not the coagulation profile, may serve as biomarkers for COVID-19 severity. EVs demonstrated elevated levels of immune- and vascular-related markers in patients with moderate/severe disease, and may play a role in disease pathogenesis.
KW - COVID-19
KW - extracellular vesicles (EVs)
KW - inflammation
KW - thrombogenicity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85151113799&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijms24065918
DO - 10.3390/ijms24065918
M3 - ???researchoutput.researchoutputtypes.contributiontojournal.article???
C2 - 36982991
AN - SCOPUS:85151113799
SN - 1661-6596
VL - 24
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
JF - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
IS - 6
M1 - 5918
ER -