Effects of COVID-19 Infection in Healthy Subjects on Cardiac Function and Biomarkers of Oxygen Transport, Blood Coagulation and Inflammation

• Published in: Viruses Vol. 15; no. 8; p. 1623
• Main Authors: Gumanova, Nadezhda G., Gorshkov, Alexander U., Bogdanova, Natalya L., Korolev, Andrei I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 25.07.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Analysis; Antibodies; biomarkers; blood; Blood coagulation; blood platelet count; Blood pressure; Blood tests; Cardiac function; cardiac output; Cardiomyopathy; Cholesterol; Chronic diseases; Comparative analysis; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 infection; Creatinine; Cross-sectional studies; deceleration time of early mitral inflow; Echocardiography; Ejection fraction; Enzymes; Erythrocyte sedimentation rate; Germany; Health aspects; Health care; Heart; Heart failure; Hematology; Hemoglobin; immunity; Immunoglobulin G; Infections; Inflammation; Laboratories; left ventricular mass index; Long COVID; Mann-Whitney U test; Mitral valve; Mortality; oxygen; Pandemics; Preventive medicine; Reagents; regression analysis; Severe acute respiratory syndrome; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Software; the ratio between the E and A waves; Triglycerides; ultrasonics; Uric acid; Velocity; Ventricle; Germany; United States > US; Russia
• ISSN: 1999-4915; 1999-4915
• DOI: 10.3390/v15081623

Background: The manifestations, severity, and mortality of COVID-19 are considered to be associated with the changes in various hematological parameters and in immunity. Associations of immunoglobulin G antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome-linked coronavirus (IgG-SARS)-positive status with cardiac function and hematological and biochemical parameters in apparently health subjects are poorly understood. Methods: The present cross-sectional study included 307 healthy volunteers (24–69 years of age; 44.8 ± 8.6 years; 80.4% men) and was initiated in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 episodes were confirmed by detection of IgG-SARS against SARS-CoV-2 S1 RBD to reveal 70 IgG-SARS-positive and 237 negative participants. Numerous ultrasound characteristics were assessed by echocardiography, and 15 hematological and biochemical parameters were assayed in the blood. Descriptive and comparative analysis was based on the IgG-SARS status of the participants. Results: The left ventricular mass index, mitral ratio of peak early to late diastolic filling velocity or flow velocity across the mitral valve, and deceleration time of early mitral inflow were decreased (p < 0.05) in IgG-SARS-positive participants versus those in IgG-SARS-negative participants according to multivariate logistic regression analysis. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate and platelet count were slightly increased, and blood hemoglobin was decreased in IgG-SARS-positive participants compared with those in IgG-SARS-negative participants. Conclusions: LV filling, inflammation, blood coagulation, and hemoglobin appear to be influenced by COVID-19 infection in healthy participants. Our observations contribute to the definition of vulnerabilities in the apparently healthy subjects with long COVID-19. These vulnerabilities may be more severe in patients with certain chronic diseases.