Soluble Endoglin and Syndecan-1 levels predicts the clinical outcome in COVID-19 patients

Area of Science:

• Vascular Biology
• Infectious Diseases
• Biomarker Discovery

Background:

• Endothelial dysfunction is implicated in COVID-19 pathogenesis.
• Mechanisms regulating endothelial dysfunction and disease severity remain unclear.
• Circulating proteins from activated endothelial cells may offer insights into disease manifestation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate circulating levels of Endoglin (Eng) and Syndecan-1 (SDC-1) in COVID-19 patients.
• To assess the association of Eng and SDC-1 with hypercoagulation marker D-dimer.
• To determine the potential of these molecules in predicting COVID-19 disease severity.

Main Methods:

• Serum levels of Eng, SDC-1, and D-dimer were measured using ELISA.
• Measurements were taken at admission and day 7 post-admission in 39 COVID-19 patients (17 moderate, 22 severe).
• Statistical analysis was performed to compare levels between groups and assess associations.

Main Results:

• Serum levels of soluble Eng (sEng) and soluble SDC-1 (sSDC1) increased from admission to day 7 in all COVID-19 cases.
• Severe COVID-19 cases showed significantly higher sEng and sSDC-1 levels on day 7 compared to moderate cases.
• sEng and sSDC-1 demonstrated a strong positive association with D-dimer levels.

Conclusions:

• Early shedding of endothelial proteins sEng and sSDC-1 occurs as a host response to viral infection.
• Elevated sEng, sSDC-1, and D-dimer levels may serve as predictive markers for COVID-19 disease severity.
• These findings contribute to understanding endothelial involvement in COVID-19 pathogenesis.