Plasma mediators in patients with severe COVID-19 cause lung endothelial barrier failure

Laura Michalick; Sarah Weidenfeld; Benjamin Grimmer; Diana Fatykhova; Philip Daniel Solymosi; Felix Behrens; Melanie Dohmen; Markus C Brack; Sabrina Schulz; Elisa Thomasch; Szandor Simmons; Holger Müller-Redetzky; Norbert Suttorp; Florian Kurth; Jens Neudecker; Mario Toennies; Torsten T Bauer; Stephan Eggeling; Victor Max Corman; Andreas C Hocke; Martin Witzenrath; Stefan Hippenstiel; Wolfgang M Kuebler

doi:10.1183/13993003.02384-2020

Plasma mediators in patients with severe COVID-19 cause lung endothelial barrier failure

Eur Respir J. 2021 Mar 11;57(3):2002384. doi: 10.1183/13993003.02384-2020. Print 2021 Mar.

Authors

Laura Michalick¹, Sarah Weidenfeld¹, Benjamin Grimmer¹, Diana Fatykhova², Philip Daniel Solymosi¹, Felix Behrens^{1

3}, Melanie Dohmen^{2

4}, Markus C Brack², Sabrina Schulz¹, Elisa Thomasch¹, Szandor Simmons¹, Holger Müller-Redetzky², Norbert Suttorp^{2

5}, Florian Kurth², Jens Neudecker⁶, Mario Toennies⁷, Torsten T Bauer⁷, Stephan Eggeling⁸, Victor Max Corman^{9

10}, Andreas C Hocke^{2

5}, Martin Witzenrath^{2

5

11}, Stefan Hippenstiel^{2

5

11}, Wolfgang M Kuebler^{12

5

13

14

15

11}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Physiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.
² Dept of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.
³ Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.
⁴ Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany.
⁵ German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Germany.
⁶ Dept of General, Visceral, Vascular and Thoracic Surgery, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.
⁷ Lungenklinik Heckeshorn, HELIOS Klinikum Emil von Behring, Berlin, Germany.
⁸ Vivantes Netzwerk für Gesundheit, Klinikum Neukölln, Klinik für Thoraxchirurgie, Berlin, Germany.
⁹ Institute of Virology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany.
¹⁰ German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Germany.
¹¹ These authors contributed equally to this study.
¹² Institute of Physiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany wolfgang.kuebler@charite.de.
¹³ The Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁴ Depts. of Surgery and Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁵ German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), Germany.

Abstract

The plasma of COVID-19 patients induces pulmonary microvascular barrier failure, which increases with disease severity. Here, a screening platform to test for plasma mediators and the therapeutic potential of barrier stabilising compounds is reported. https://bit.ly/3k4C0tB

Publication types

Letter

MeSH terms

Actins / metabolism
Antigens, CD / metabolism
COVID-19 / blood
COVID-19 / metabolism*
Cadherins / metabolism
Capillary Permeability*
Case-Control Studies
Electric Impedance*
Endothelial Cells / metabolism*
Endothelium / metabolism*
Hospitalization
Humans
Lung / metabolism
Microvessels / cytology
Occludin / metabolism
Plasma*
SARS-CoV-2
Severity of Illness Index

Substances

Actins
Antigens, CD
Cadherins
Occludin
cadherin 5