Platelet and extracellular vesicles in COVID-19 infection and its vaccines

Hadi Goubran; Jerard Seghatchian; Waleed Sabry; Gaafar Ragab; Thierry Burnouf

doi:10.1016/j.transci.2022.103459

Platelet and extracellular vesicles in COVID-19 infection and its vaccines

Transfus Apher Sci. 2022 Jun;61(3):103459. doi: 10.1016/j.transci.2022.103459. Epub 2022 May 21.

Authors

Hadi Goubran¹, Jerard Seghatchian², Waleed Sabry¹, Gaafar Ragab³, Thierry Burnouf⁴

Affiliations

¹ Saskatoon Cancer Centre and College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
² International Consultancy in Blood Components Quality/Safety, Audit/Inspection and DDR Strategy, London, UK.
³ Internal Medicine Department, Rheumatology, and Clinical Immunology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt; School of Medicine, Newgiza University (NGU), Giza, Egypt.
⁴ Graduate Institute of Biomedical Materials and Tissue Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; International Ph.D. Program in Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: thburnouf@gmail.com.

Abstract

Platelets are at the crossroads between thrombosis and inflammation. When activated, platelets can shed bioactive extracellular vesicles [pEVs] that share the hemostatic potential of their parent cells and act as bioactive shuttles of their granular contents. In a viral infection, platelets are activated, and pEVs are generated with occasional virion integration. Both platelets and pEVs are engaged in a bidirectional interaction with neutrophils and other cells of the immune system and the hemostatic pathways. Severe COVID-19 infection is characterized by a stormy thromboinflammatory response with platelets and their EVs at the center stage of this reaction. This review sheds light on the interactions of platelets, pEVS and SARS-CoV-2 infection and prognostic and potential therapeutic role of pEVs. The review also describes the role of pEVs in the rare adenovirus-based COVID-19 vaccine-induced thrombosis thrombocytopenia.

Keywords: COVID-19; Extracellular vesicles; Microparticles; Platelets; SARS-CoV-2; VITT.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Blood Platelets / metabolism
COVID-19 Vaccines
COVID-19*
Extracellular Vesicles* / metabolism
Hemostatics* / metabolism
Humans
SARS-CoV-2
Thrombosis*

Substances

COVID-19 Vaccines
Hemostatics