Researchers may have identified a way to save the lives of approximately 20 percent of all COVID patients.

Jun Yan, M.D., Ph.D., a University of Louisville professor of surgery and microbiology and immunology, led a team of researchers in the discovery of a critical biomarker that predicts a crisis in COVID-19 patients that could result in death.

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Around 20 percent of COVID-19 patients develop severe disease, which may include pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

The rapid influx of immune cells to the lungs to fight the infection causes complications in the lungs and blood coagulation disorders, which can lead to heart attack, pulmonary embolism, stroke, or deep vein thrombosis in some of these patients.

To gain a better understanding of these potentially fatal complications, the team measured the levels of various immune cells in blood samples taken from COVID-19 patients and compared them to those found in healthy individuals.

They discovered that in some patients with severe conditions, one type of immune cell, low-density inflammatory neutrophils, became highly elevated.

This increase indicated a clinical crisis and an increased risk of death within a few days.

Neutrophils are an immune cell that serves as the body’s first line of defence.

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When a person becomes infected, neutrophils rush to the infection site to clear the pathogen that is causing the infection.

However, if they are present for a long time or if there is a large number of cells at the site of infection, in this case, the lungs, they can have unfavourable consequences.

Coagulopathy, a blood clotting disorder that can manifest as pulmonary embolism, heart attack, or stroke, occurred in patients with severe COVID-19.

The researchers used repeated blood samples from study participants to track changes in neutrophil and other immune cell levels, which were correlated with improvement or worsening of the patients’ condition.

If clinicians can detect an increase in these cells, they might be able to offer treatment to prevent the potentially fatal conditions that come with them.

According to the findings, the low-density inflammatory band neutrophil population plays a role in COVID-19-associated coagulopathy (CAC) and could be used as a clinical marker to track disease progression and status.

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Identifying patients who are on the verge of a cellular crisis and then providing timely, appropriate treatment could reduce mortality rates in severe COVID-19 patients.

The study was published in MedRxiv.

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