Procoagulant Microvesicles in COVID-19 Patients: Possible Modulators of Inflammation and Prothrombotic Tendency

Hassan A Hamali; Muhammad Saboor; Gasim Dobie; Aymen M Madkhali; Mohammad S Akhter; Ali Hakamy; Hesham M Al-Mekhlafi; Denise E Jackson; Yahya H Matari; Abdullah A Mobarki

doi:10.2147/IDR.S355395

Procoagulant Microvesicles in COVID-19 Patients: Possible Modulators of Inflammation and Prothrombotic Tendency

Infect Drug Resist. 2022 Apr 29:15:2359-2368. doi: 10.2147/IDR.S355395. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Gizan, Saudi Arabia.
² Medical Research Center, Jazan University, Gizan, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Respiratory Therapy, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Gizan, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Thrombosis and Vascular Diseases Laboratory, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia.
⁵ Laboratory Department, Baish General Hospital, Gizan, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Background: The hypercoagulability and thrombotic tendency in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is multifactorial, driven mainly by inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction. Elevated levels of procoagulant microvesicles (MVs) and tissue factor-bearing microvesicles (TF-bearing MVs) have been observed in many diseases with thrombotic tendency. The current study aimed to measure the levels of procoagulant MVs and TF-bearing MVs in patients with COVID-19 and healthy controls and to correlate their levels with platelet counts, D-Dimer levels, and other proposed calculated inflammatory markers.

Materials and methods: Forty ICU-admitted patients with COVID-19 and 37 healthy controls were recruited in the study. Levels of procoagulant MVs and TF-bearing MVs in the plasma of the study population were measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.

Results: COVID-19 patients had significantly elevated levels of procoagulant MVs and TF-bearing MVs as compared with healthy controls (P<0.001). Procoagulant MVs significantly correlated with TF-bearing MVs, D-dimer levels, and platelet count, but not with calculated inflammatory markers (neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, platelet/lymphocyte ratio, and platelet/neutrophil ratio).

Conclusion: Elevated levels of procoagulant MVs and TF-bearing MVs in patients with COVID-19 are suggested to be (i) early potential markers to predict the severity of COVID-19 (ii) a novel circulatory biomarker to evaluate the procoagulant activity and severity of COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; D-dimer; NLR; PLR; PNR; microvesicles; procoagulant; tissue factor.

Grants and funding

There is no funding to report.