Hospital 57357’s research department discover a relationship between the increase in COVID associated mortality in critical care patients during the first ten days of admission in the intensive care and intensive damage in a blood protein called albumin.
Albumin is one of the proteins that constitute 60% of the blood. It is the frontline antioxidant protein in blood with established anti-inflammatory and anticoagulation functions. It is responsible for carrying 250 types of food ingredients and vitamins, and transferring it from the intestine to the rest of the body.
Dr. Sameh Saad, head of tumor biology unit in 57357, reveals:
COVID-19 induces changes in protein structure and folding which was found to affect loading/unloading function (proteins are shuttles “load” that transport things such as drugs and pharmaceutical components, from kidney or liver, to distribute, “unload” it on the rest of the body). As a result of oxidative stress “reactive oxygen species” (a form of oxygen molecule) may change cellular components including proteins. Hence the protein function is damaged which increases the body’s ability for coagulation, consequently more probability of death for COVID critically ill patients.
COVID danger is linked to the three complications which we call the triangle of fear, cytokine (inflammatory) storm, oxidative stress and coagulation, we found these complications associated with Albmin damage. We succeeded in measuring the rate of damage in critical care patients using advanced technology. Hence we found a relation between COVID associated mortality during the first ten days of entering intensive care unit and the ratio of the protein damage. The research is published in MedRxiv magazine.