A new study shows the blood cells of COVID patients deviate strongly from healthy patients. According to researchers in a Newswise press release, a “COVID-19 infection significantly changes the size and stiffness of red and white blood cells — sometimes for months” after the patient has recovered, which can lead to long covid and symptoms of fatigue, headaches or shortness of breath.
When blood circulation is impaired — as can happen with a COVID infection —it could cause a dangerous vascular blockage and limit oxygen, which causes damage to blood cells. Researchers noted that lymphocytes (one type of white blood cell responsible for the acquired immune defense) were “significantly softer in COVID-19 patients, which usually indicates a strong immune reaction.”
The study also showed that similar observations occurred for another group of white blood cells involved in the innate immune response, which remained radically altered even seven months after the infection.
"We suspect that the cytoskeleton of immune cells, which is largely responsible for cell function, has changed," said Markéta Kubánková, first author of the research article. Real-time deformability cytometry has the potential to be used routinely in the diagnosis of COVID-19, according to Kubánková, “and could also serve as an early warning system against future pandemics caused by as yet unknown viruses.”
SOURCE: Newswise June 30, 2021