Thanks for this find!
LilFarmer wrote:
“Early Predictor of Severe Respiratory Failure in Patients With COVID-19 Identified
Findings published in Critical Care suggest that high plasma levels of the protein suPAR are associated with worse outcomes
30-Apr-2020 3:15 PM EDT, by Rush University Medical Center Contact Patient Services
Newswise — A very high level of a protein known as suPAR in the blood of patients with COVID-19 may be a predictor of severe respiratory failure, according to new research published in the Journal of Critical Care on April 30. The findings by researchers at Rush University Medical Center and other institutions suggest suPAR could be a potential predictor for which patients with COVID-19 will need to be put on ventilators to help them breathe.
“This is the first report in the world to show that suPAR is elevated in COVID-19 and is predictive. Since suPAR is a reactant of the innate immune system, it’s an indicator of disease severity,” said Jochen Reiser, MD, PhD, the Ralph C. Brown, MD, Professor of Internal Medicine, chairperson of the Department of Internal Medicine at Rush.
“These results show that the higher the plasma suPAR level, the worse the outcome will be in the lungs of these patients,” said Reiser, who is co-correspondent author of the study. “The higher the suPAR level, the shorter the time before patients needed intubation.”
Reiser’s research team tested suPAR levels in 15 Rush patients when they were admitted or tested for COVID-19. The University of Athens Medical School measured 57 patients for suPAR and followed them in their clinical course. Time to intubation was followed and found to be shorter in patients with a higher plasma suPAR.
“There is a body of literature that suPAR is associated with poor outcomes from acute respiratory distress syndrome (a condition in many patients with severe COVID-19) and poor lung functioning in critically ill patients,” Reiser said.
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Soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor, aka suPAR, is produced in the endobronchial tree in the lungs and by immune cells in the bone marrow and repeatedly has been shown to harm kidneys. In two publications in The New England Journal of Medicine, Reiser’s research showed that chronically elevated blood levels are linked to development of chronic kidney disease, yet a high plasma suPAR also increases the risk for acute kidney injury – a sudden decline in kidney function that can be a severe side effect of general medical procedures.
Interesting. Always glad when I hear anything new id understood about this.
Though nowadays what’s learned is often over my head.
Well this explains part of the kidney morbidity issues.