The virus that made the world stand still in 2020 has shown to raise the risk of a major adverse cardiovascular event, including stroke, according to a new study.
The study suggests that those with COVID-19 are 55 per cent more likely to have a cardiovascular event like stroke, than those without COVID-19.
The virus causes those with it to have a higher possibility of having other heart problems, such as arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms) and myocarditis (inflammation of the heart risk), which are both risk factors of stroke.
The research team on the study found that in the heart tissue from patients who had COVID-19 there was increases in oxidative stress (harmful production of unstable molecules), as well as signals of inflammation and changes in calcium.
They also detected adverse changes to protein known as RyR2, which is responsible for regulating the heart’s calcium ion levels.
The heart muscle, like all muscle cells needs calcium ions to contract. The heart’s system for managing calcium ions is essential for the coordinated contractions of the atria and ventricles that pump blood throughout the body.
When calcium in the heart becomes dysregulated, it can cause arrhythmias or heart failure.
In order to study the changes to the heart further, they used a mouse model infected with COVID-19. They observed changes to the heart tissue including immune cell infiltration, collagen deposition (indicative of injury), death of heart cells, and blood clots. They also measured changes to the heart proteome, the proteins that are expressed by the heart cells, and found patterns consistent with changes observed to human hearts that were infected with COVID-19, as well as markers of cardiomyopathy, which can cause difficulties for the heart to pump blood to the body and can lead to heart failure.
Andrew Marks, a cardiologist and author of the study, says: “The more awareness you build around particular aspects of a disease, the more likely you are to improve the care of patients. And doctors should be aware of heart changes related to COVID-19 infections and should be looking for them.
“We want to really figure out what’s causing the heart disease and how to fix it.”
Understanding changes at the molecular level may reveal drug targets that could improve cardiac symptoms related to COVID-19 and help healthcare professionals diagnose and treat these issues in a more effective manner.
Additionally, understanding the cardiac complications of COVID-19 could also help public health officials make more informed designs about how to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in advising those at higher risk for heart issues.
