Indications of Persistent Glycocalyx Damage in Convalescent COVID-19 Patients: A Prospective Multicenter Study and Hypothesis

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is caused by the SARS CoV-2 virus and can lead to severe lung damage and hyperinflammation. In the context of COVID-19 infection, inflammation-induced degradation of the glycocalyx layer in endothelial cells has been demonstrated. Syndecan-1 (SDC-1) is an established parameter for measuring glycocalyx injury. This prospective, multicenter, observational, cross-sectional study analyzed SDC-1 levels in 24 convalescent patients that had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 with mild disease course without need of hospitalization. We included 13 age-matched healthy individuals and 10 age-matched hospitalized COVID-19 patients with acute mild disease course as controls. In convalescent COVID-19 patients, significantly elevated SDC-1 levels were detected after a median of 88 days after symptom onset compared to healthy controls, whereas no difference was found when compared to SDC-1 levels of hospitalized patients undergoing acute disease. This study is the first to demonstrate signs of endothelial damage in non-pre-diseased, convalescent COVID-19 patients after mild disease progression without hospitalization. The data are consistent with studies showing evidence of persistent endothelial damage after severe or critical disease progression. Further work to investigate endothelial damage in convalescent COVID-19 patients should follow.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; glycocalyx; long-COVID-19; syndecan-1.

Figure 1

SDC-1 values of COVID-19 inpatient convalescent patients, hospitalized patients with acute disease, and healthy controls. * p < 0.05, ** p ≤ 0.01; n.s. not significant.

Figure 2

Significant correlations between SDC-1 levels and laboratory values in SARS CoV-2 patients, regression analysis plot. (A) lactate dehydrogenase, (B) albumine, (C) CRP, (D) ferritin, (E) Il-6.