Researchers at the University of Cincinnati hope to discover novel plasma biomarkers in order to minimize heart damage seen in minority populations hardest hit by coronavirus
Researchers are finding about half of all patients with COVID-19 admitted to an intensive care unit have heart damage. The troubling trend of heart injury for COVID-19 patients is why a team of UC researchers is trying to understand how the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the pathogen of COVID-19, impacts heart cells. Sakthivel Sadayappan, PhD, the grant’s principal investigator, Richard Becker, MD and Donald Lynch, MD, are leading this effort.
Lynch, an assistant professor in the UC College of Medicine and a UC Health cardiologist, says the research will hopefully lead to the discovery of novel plasma biomarkers that can predict early signs of severe cardiac injury, arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.
He says COVID-19 is affecting patients in ways that exacerbate pre- existing racial and health inequalities in the United States. Reports of African-Americans being disproportionately hit by COVID-19 deaths are linked to other health concerns including cardiovascular well-being.
“This may be the first diagnostic test specific for COVID-19 related heart injury.”
