The findings of new research published in the journal Blood demonstrate how antibodies our systems generate to defend against Covid-19 cause increased platelet function, which may result in deadly blood clots in individuals with severe Coronavirus.
Plaquettes are tiny blood cells that help to stop or prevent bleeding. When platelets don’t work correctly, this may lead to severe health problems such as strokes and heart attacks, among other things.
The researchers took antibodies generated by individuals with severe Covid-19 infections to combat the coronavirus’s spike protein and cloned them in a lab for further investigation.
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When the cloned antibodies were introduced in a lab to blood cells taken from healthy donors, an increase in platelet activity was observed.
The researchers also discovered that treating blood with active ingredients from various medications that are known to either inhibit platelet function or immune responses could reduce or stop platelets from responding in this way in the lab. The findings suggest that drugs currently used to treat immune system problems may be able to reduce or prevent cells from producing an excessive platelet response.
The MATIS trial, led by Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, is currently testing these drugs in clinical trials with patients at hospital sites across the UK to see if they can reduce serious clotting in Covid-19 patients.
The lab-based study of human cells provides critical evidence to support the scientific basis for the MATIS trial, and while no results from the clinical trial have been released, the two teams will continue to collaborate closely as the trial progresses.
Professor Jon Gibbins, Director of the University of Reading Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research, commented:
“Until now, we have only had assumptions about why platelets involved in clotting were being activated during Covid-19 infection.
“One way to think of what is happens is that the immune response that is designed to protect you from the infection in some cases, particularly in severely ill patients, actually causes more damage. In this case, the antibodies that are produced to stop Covid-19 from spreading trigger infected cells to induce platelet activity which causes clotting even though there is no wound that needs healing.
“We are particularly excited because our studies of platelets in the laboratory establishes important mechanisms that explain how and why dangerous blood clots may occur in severely ill Covid-19 patients, and importantly, also provides clues as to how this may be prevented.”
“Early on in the Covid-19 pandemic it was clear that the infection was causing an overwhelming immune response, including blood clotting, and that many of the more severe cases and deaths were related to this,” said co-author Nichola Cooper, reader at Imperial College London and consultant haematologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, who also designed and leads the MATIS trial.
“Having been involved in early research around blood clotting related to inflammation, it occurred to me that the drugs we already use for other disorders could be easily accessible treatments for Covid-19. We are yet to see results from the MATIS trial so we do not yet know how these drugs will work in patients, but our hope is that we can both inhibit the inflammatory response and prevent severe disease and blood clots. It is exciting to see our collaboration with Reading backing our theory already and providing a solid scientific basis for clinical trials.”
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