Abstract

In December 2019, a new virus has been discovered, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), leading to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). COVID-19 has been defined as an evolving disease with different phases. It starts with a mild or asymptomatic phase in which there is minimal disease. Thereafter, most patients recover, however, in 20% of the cases the infection worsens. It is hypothesized that eosinopenia, endothelial injury and the presence of smooth muscle autoantibodies are associated with the severity of the COVID-19. In a subset of 75 blood samples of patients with a SARS-CoV-2 infection at time of hospitalization and 30 healthy control samples concentrations of eosinophils, VEGF, VCAM, endothelin and smooth muscle autoantibodies were determined with hemocytometry, ELISA and immunofluorescence assays. In the group of patients with COVID-19 eosinophils (IQR = 0.0–0.01*10⁹/L) were significantly decreased (p < .001), whereas markers of endothelial damage VCAM (IQR = 740–1120 ng/mL) and endothelin (IQR = 2.0–3.4 pg/mL) were significantly increased (p < .001) compared to the group of healthy controls (eosinophils IQR = 0.09–0.19*10⁹/L, VCAM IQR = 362–561 ng/mL, endothelin IQR = 0.5–1.0 pg/mL). From the multivariate analysis, it is concluded that at time of hospitalization a combination of eosinopenia and increased markers of endothelial damage VCAM and endothelin are characteristic of COVID-19.

摘要

2019 年 12 月，发现了一种新病毒，即严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2 (SARS-CoV-2)，导致 2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19)。COVID-19 已被定义为具有不同阶段的不断演变的疾病。它始于轻微或无症状的阶段，其中有最小的疾病。此后，大多数患者康复，然而，在 20% 的病例中感染恶化。据推测，嗜酸性粒细胞减少、内皮损伤和平滑肌自身抗体的存在与 COVID-19 的严重程度有关。在住院时 SARS-CoV-2 感染患者的 75 份血液样本和 30 份健康对照样本中，通过血细胞计数法、ELISA 和免疫荧光测定法测定了嗜酸性粒细胞、VEGF、VCAM、内皮素和平滑肌自身抗体的浓度。⁹ /L) 显着降低 ( p  < .001)，而内皮损伤标志物 VCAM (IQR = 740–1120 ng/mL) 和内皮素 (IQR = 2.0–3.4 pg/mL) 显着增加 ( p  < .001 ) 与健康对照组相比（嗜酸性粒细胞 IQR = 0.09–0.19*10 ⁹ /L，VCAM IQR = 362–561 ng/mL，内皮素 IQR = 0.5–1.0 pg/mL）。从多变量分析得出的结论是，住院时嗜酸性粒细胞减少和内皮损伤 VCAM 和内皮素标志物增加是 COVID-19 的特征。