Coronavirus: blood may predict disease susceptibility and severity

According to two recent analyzes, blood could play an important role for Covid-19 and provide useful information for both the susceptibility and the progression of the disease (photo: Gil Cohen-Magen / AFP via Getty Images) The new coronavirus, we know well, affects many organs and tissues of our body. In addition to the lungs, in fact, it also attacks the liver, brain, skin, testicles and heart. During the pandemic, for example, many studies have shown that numerous patients with Covid-19 have also reported serious damage to the circulatory system. And while the entire scientific community is trying to find an explanation as to why the virus causes blood clots, a frequent complication of the disease, research has just shown how the blood of the sick could be used to predict disease progression. The study, published in the journal Cell System, therefore represents an important step forward for the development of a diagnostic test capable of predicting whether a patient will develop severe symptoms. But not only: a research by 23andMe, a company specialized in DNA analysis and in research of correlations between genome and disease risk, has found that the blood group plays a role in the susceptibility to Covid-19. According to the results, still preliminary, in fact, the blood group 0 would significantly reduce the risk of contracting the new coronavirus.

But what has emerged exactly from these two new studies? In the first article, researchers from the university hospital of the Charité of Berlin, in collaboration with the Francis Crick Institute in London, have gone in search of biomarkers , biological characteristics that may provide a reliable tool to predict the progression and severity of the disease. Using innovative analytical techniques, in fact, the research team has discovered some of the differences in blood samples of severe cases than those with milder symptoms. By analyzing the blood plasma of 31 patients suffering from Covid-19, the researchers were able to determine the levels of various proteins in the blood and identify several biomarkers , linked to the severity of their disease.

From the results, in fact, have identified 27 proteins that varied quantitatively depending on the severity of the disease. “These results lay the foundations for the two applications are very different. A possible future use would be for the prognosis of the disease, ” says study author Markus Ralser . “A blood test early would allow a physician to predict whether a patient with Covid-19 develop, or less severe symptoms. This could then save lives: as soon as the doctors know which patients will need intensive therapy , the more quickly it will be able to take advantage of the options of treatment available”.

another possible future application, " adds the expert, could be that of a diagnostic test , which could be more precise and objective about the condition of health of a patient. “In some cases, the symptoms of a patient do not seem to provide an accurate picture of their true state of health,” says the author. “An objective evaluation, based on their profile of the biomarkers, could be extremely useful in this regard.”

The second study, instead, seems to confirm the results of two recent studies carried out in China , in Italy and in Spain, in which it was highlighted a link between blood group , determined by the gene ABO, and the susceptibility and severity of the Covid-19 . The california-based company 23andMe, in fact, suggested as a precise type of blood may play a protective role and make it immune to the coronavirus . To understand this, the researchers reviewed the data of 750mila participants, discovering a direct link between the blood group of the patient and his susceptibility to infection. In particular, the preliminary results showed that the participants with blood group 0 have in general a lower probability (between 9% and 18%) to be infected with the virus than those with other blood groups, and those most exposed to the coronavirus (including health care workers) of 13-26% less of contracting the virus. For now, the preliminary data seem to provide evidence of the importance of the blood group of a person in the different susceptibility to coronavirus.