Blood test to predict COVID-19

A study which has been fully realized in Ticino by the association of hospitals for the canton (Ente Ospedaliera Cantonale, EOC) suggests that severe progressions of COVID-19 can be predicted by identifying certain biomarkers contained in the blood. The researchers have discovered that a particularly high concentration of a certain protein, namely the tissue factor, can be found in people who develop severe symptoms, which in turn activates blood clotting mechanisms.

The study shows that the expression level of this protein directly correlates with both the length of stay in hospital and the number of these white blood cells. In COVID-19 patients, both are indicators of a poor prognosis. Essentially, the study suggests that a blood test after a positive smear could provide important clues in predicting severe disease progression, which in turn would mean that potentially life-saving therapies can be initiated earlier. A preview version of the study has now been uploaded to eBioMedicine, the open access journal of the specialist medical publication “The Lancet”.

As detailed in a corresponding press release issued by the EOC, four factors led to this most recent research success: access to the EOC bio database, the expertise of medical specialists with regard to prognosis and disease progression in COVID patients, the laboratory for basic research at the Cardiocentro Ticino-EOC institute, which is regarded as an international reference point for research into nanoparticles, and the patients who consented to participating in this research project.

The researchers will now seek to expand the database for the scientific insights recently acquired by the EOC. “We have made some very important discoveries”, comments Michele Ghielmini, Head of the Department for Academic Training, Research and Innovation (AFRI) at the EOC. “These range from the use of drugs to combat high blood pressure in the treatment of COVID-19 patients all the way through to using high-tech plasters to monitor vital parameters in cancer patients who have also contracted COVID-19”, he adds. Reports on the progress of this research will be key. The EOC has now set up the website grazieallaricerca.ch (Italian for ‘thanks to research’) for precisely this purpose, which is now live.