In a new study from Murdoch University, researchers found a new set of biomarkers for increased risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with COVID-19 infections.
COVID-19 infection has previously been linked to significantly increased risks of multiple types of cardiovascular disease and cardiac insufficiency.
It is also a key feature of Long COVID.
The newly discovered biomarkers could form the basis of a new rapid test for COVID-19.
But, more importantly, the biomarkers also indicate a strong correlation with existing known markers of cardiovascular disease risk including atherosclerosis, and myocardial infarction (heart attack).
Previous studies have shown that COVID-19 infection massively increases cardiovascular risk in the year after the initial infection.
In the current study, the team investigated biochemical abnormalities in the blood of COVID-19 patients.
They made several discoveries including abnormalities in blood lipids (fats) and the proteins that transport them around the body (lipoproteins).
To measure and study these molecules directly in blood plasma, the team invented new experiments that combined different technologies to characterize the diagnostic markers in great detail.
Now the researchers have a new means to measure the cardiovascular risk directly on small volumes of blood plasma in a few minutes.
The method does not require extensive chemical preparation and uses Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy to measure the marker peaks directly.
As Chief Executive Officer of the Spinnaker Health Research Foundation, Dana Henderson, said, this study continues to remind us of the vigilance required in monitoring the health of our population beyond the point of peak infection rate.
For some of us, omicron will persist and may well present as a life-limiting disease.
The researchers continue to provide a wealth of evidence that must be adopted for long term patient care.
If you care about heart disease, please read studies about common drugs that could lead to irregular heartbeat, and new easy way to prevent heart disease.
For more information about COVID, please see recent studies about two COVID-19 pills that may change everything, and results showing that people with mental problems 5 times more likely to die from COVID-19.
The study was conducted by Reika Masuda et al., and published in Analytical Chemistry.
