To analyze the role of chymase-positive mast cells in myocardial damage among patients who died from severe or critical COVID-19, highlighting the significance of these findings for understanding cardiac complications.
Key Findings:
Low overall density of cardiac mast cells with predominance of degranulated chymase-positive cells, statistically significant.
Significant correlation between chymase-positive mast cells and severe COVID-19 indicators, with p-values reported.
Strong association between chymase-positive mast cells and elevated troponin I levels, statistically significant.
Increased mast cell presence correlated with extensive interstitial and perivascular fibrosis, with statistical analysis included.
Interpretation:
Chymase-positive mast cells may play a critical role in myocardial inflammation and fibrosis in COVID-19, suggesting potential targets for therapeutic intervention and future research directions.
Limitations:
Study limited to deceased patients, which may not represent the broader population of COVID-19 patients, introducing selection bias.
Small sample size may limit generalizability of findings; larger studies are needed.
Conclusion:
Chymase-positive mast cells contribute to myocardial injury in COVID-19, indicating their potential as therapeutic targets for cardiac complications, emphasizing the need for further investigation.
by Andrey V. Budnevsky, Sergey N. Avdeev, Ekaterina D. Arkhipova, Djuro Kosanovic, Viktoria V. Shishkina, Tatiana A. Chernik, Evgeniy S. Ovsyannikov, Inna M. Perveeva, Andrey A. Filin, Roman E. Tokmachev, Alexander V. Pertsev, Elena E. Ivanova, Tatiana V. Samoylenko, Lyubov N. Antakova
