{"id":71765,"date":"2021-07-01T18:54:13","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T22:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=71765"},"modified":"2021-07-01T18:57:03","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T22:57:03","slug":"why-does-covid-19-change-the-structure-of-blood-cells-unless-its-was-bioengineered-to-as-a-bioweapon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=71765","title":{"rendered":"Why does COVID-19 change the structure of blood cells unless it’s was bioengineered to as a bioweapon?"},"content":{"rendered":"

COVID-19 changes the structure of blood cells, may explain \u2018long hauler\u2019 symptoms<\/strong><\/h1>\n

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(\u00a9 Kateryna_Kon – stock.adobe.com)<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

by Chris Melore
\nStudy Finds<\/p>\n

ERLANGEN, Germany \u2014\u00a0<\/strong>Many patients with COVID-19 can end up dealing with side-effects of their infection for weeks and even months after the illness clears. These \u201clong hauler\u201d cases of coronavirus have been something of a mystery to doctors. Now, however, a new study may have an answer as to why some people can\u2019t seem to shake COVID-19. For the first time, researchers in Germany have discovered that the virus changes the size and stiffness of both red and white blood cells in the human body. Moreover, these changes can last for months, possibly explaining the seemingly never-ending symptoms of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

A team from the Max Planck Center for Physics and Medicine used a technique called real-time deformability cytometry to examine thousands of blood cells from both COVID-19 patients and healthy individuals. Those tests reveal the size and deformability of red blood cells differs greatly between those contracting COVID and those who have not.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to detect clear and\u00a0long-lasting changes<\/a>\u00a0in the cells \u2014 both during an acute infection and even afterwards,\u201d reports Professor Jochen Guck, managing director of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, in a\u00a0media release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018Long COVID\u2019 is a major problem<\/h3>\n

Researchers say some patients continue to struggle with shortness of breath, fatigue, and headaches long after a severe case of coronavirus. Sometimes, these side-effects persist for over six months. Previous studies have also discovered many recovering COVID patients also deal with neurological dysfunction and, in rare cases,\u00a0problems with their heart<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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One thing that has been clear about these infections is that COVID often impairs blood circulation. This can lead to dangerous blood clots and problems transporting oxygen throughout the body. All of these issues revolve around the blood cells and the importance of keeping them in proper shape.<\/p>\n

Taking a picture of deformed blood cells<\/h3>\n
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Treatment of blood samples to measure physical properties of leukocytes and erythrocytes.
\n(\u00a9 MPL\/Guck Division)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Real-time deformability cytometry allowed the study authors to send blood cells through a narrow channel at high speeds. This process also stretches both the red and white blood cells which pass through, while a high-speed camera records each one with the aid of a microscope. When this is complete, custom computer software goes to work, determining how big and how deformed each cell is. Overall, RT-DC can analyze up to 1,000 blood cells per second.<\/p>\n

In this study, researchers examined the blood of 17 patients with a severe case of COVID-19, 14 people who had recovered from a COVID infection, and 24 healthy volunteers. The drastic\u00a0changes in the red blood cells<\/a>\u00a0between infected and uninfected individuals points to damage among COVID patients that could put them at increased risk for blockages and blood clots in their lungs. Additionally, results show the ability of a COVID patient\u2019s red blood cells to carry oxygen appears to be impaired as well.<\/p>\n

Study authors also discovered that lymphocytes (one type of white blood cell) are significantly softer in coronavirus patients. This typically happens when the body is having a strong immune reaction.<\/p>\n

Another group of infection-fighting white blood cells, neutrophil granulocytes, appeared to change in the same way. The team notes these cells remained this way\u00a0for several months<\/a>\u00a0after a patient\u2019s infection.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe suspect that the cytoskeleton of immune cells, which is largely responsible for cell function, has changed,\u201d says study first author Mark\u00e9ta Kub\u00e1nkov\u00e1.<\/p>\n

Researchers believe this type of\u00a0blood analysis<\/a>\u00a0could be key in future COVID-19 examinations as well as acting as an \u201cearly warning system\u201d during future epidemics involving unknown viruses.<\/p>\n

The study appears in the\u00a0Biophysical Journal<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

___
\nhttps:\/\/www.studyfinds.org\/covid-19-changes-blood-cells\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

COVID-19 changes the structure of blood cells, may explain \u2018long hauler\u2019 symptoms<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=71765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71765\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=71765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=71765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=71765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}