New @polybioRF podcast! I interviewed Dr. Resia Pretorius: Department Head/Research Professor at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Listen on an App like Spotify () or watch on Youtube ()
2/ In the interview Resia talks about how her research team has identified microclots resistant to fibrinolysis + hyperactivated platelets in the blood of #LongCovid patients. We also discuss how we are planning to extend the research to #ME/CFS 
3/ When it comes to the LongCovid microclots, Resia describes her earlier research showing that platelets (blood cells that contribute to #clotting) have receptors that recognize a wide range of viral, bacterial, and fungal proteins or products
4/ When platelets sense these proteins/products they can hyperactivate, which contributes to clotting. With that in mind we discuss how the #SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, other pathogen proteins (eg: EBV), or bacterial products created by the gut/oral #microbiome can impact clotting
5/ Resia also discusses two treatment goals for LongCovid microclots/platelet hyperactivation 1) a clinical trial to test early-stage use of #anticoagulants in preveting LongCovid 2) H.E.L.P. apheresis (a form of blood filtration) to remove microclots/pro-inflammatory proteins
6/ Thus far, her team and a group of international collaborators has performed a case study of H.E.L.P. apheresis for #LongCovid, in which they showed that the treatment successfully reduced/removed microclots in such patients (the results will hopefully be published soonish)
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