Thread by @loscharlos

“We’re very early,' @PutrinoLab says.. But every sample from #LongCovid patients has revealed #MicroClots."

"They are not capable of clogging large vessels.. but they can significantly affect organ function."
nationalgeographic.com/magazine/artic…

"@resiapretorius has been studying such #MicroClots for more than a decade & has observed them in type 2 diabetes, #MECFS, Alzheimers, Parkinsons... The main difference.. in diabetes & other conditions is they break up quite easily.. COVID microclots are harder to disintegrate"

"Trapped inside the #MicroClots, @resiapretorius team found high levels of inflammatory molecules & protein called alpha 2-antiplasmin that prevents their breakdown. Such blockages in tiny vessels throughout body could hinder supply of oxygen & nutrients to organs & tissues"

"But what’s triggering the #microclots formation? @resiapretorius & colleagues think it’s spike protein, which can linger in the blood of #LongCovid patients for up to a year. A 2021 study added spike protein to healthy blood & were able to trigger the development of microclots"

"This finding has led some scientists in the United States, with guidance from @resiapretorius, to test people with #LongCovid for #MicroClots. @LisaAMcCorkell, co-founder of the long COVID-focused @patientled, was thrilled when she heard the news last year."

"What’s frustrating for @LisaAMcCorkell & many #LongCovid patients is blood & other routine tests turn up normal despite their debilitating condition. In November 2022, she flew from California to New York where @PutrinoLab... is collecting blood samples to search for microclots"

"When she first saw the microscope images of fluorescent green blobs revealing #MicroClots, she cried with relief. For her, the confirmation that she has microclots felt like validation of her illness, 'especially after.. being gaslit throughout the last few years.'”

"For now, @PutrinoLab & team are seeing a correlation between the number of microclots on a microscope slide and the severity of #LongCovid patient’s cognitive impairment... The research team is also developing an objective measure for microclots"

"Hematologist Yazan Abou-Ismail at the University of Utah, who isn’t associated with the research but finds the theory plausible in the context of #LongCovid, also hopes to see studies that document what’s happening inside the capillaries & organs of LC patients with #MicroClots"

"In a December 2021 study.. @resiapretorius & her team showed a decrease in #MicroClots & reduced platelet activation—in 24 #LongCovid patients who were administered a combination of anticoagulant Apixiban & a dual antiplatelet therapy for a month."

"However, they’re in the process of revising the study to include more patients & measurements of their health outcomes following the treatment. 'But we need clinical trials to show anticoagulation approaches & antiplatelet approaches have efficacy,' @PutrinoLab says."

"However, they’re in the process of revising the study to include more patients & measurements of their health outcomes following the treatment. 'But we need clinical trials to show anticoagulation approaches & antiplatelet approaches have efficacy,' @PutrinoLab says."

"He also wonders if clots in small blood vessels may need different anticoagulants compared to those used against large clots."

"While researchers try to determine the prevalence of #MicroClots.. patients are suffering & desperate for treatments."

@LisaAMcCorkell.. is taking treatment into her own hands & experimenting with.. enzyme supplements like.. nattokinase that seem to breakdown blood clots"

"Like many people with #LongCovid, @LisaAMcCorkell is disappointed & angered that there aren’t clinical trials to test the use of such supplements and other off-label therapies that some patients are resorting to for relief. Many health providers are also often unable to help."

“Given the scale of the issue and how much it impacts people’s lives, we need an Operation Warp Speed situation,” @LisaAMcCorkell. “It’s frustrating that we’re not further along.” #LongCovid

So much gratitude for #TeamClots, and all the researchers & clinicians responding to #LongCovid like the emergency it is:

@resiapretorius @PutrinoLab @dbkell @microbeminded2 @doctorasadkhan @WesElyMD @zalaly @MVGutierrezMD @VirusesImmunity @Sunny_Rae1 @EdoajoEric @hmkyale

@ahandvanish @LongCovidSOS @long_covid @lisa_iannattone @fearnley_k @luckytran @DrRupaMarya @dgurdasani1 @farid__jalali @KashPrime @BinitaKane @Karl_Lauterbach @LongCovidKids @roxiqt @TRyanGregory @TaylorLorenz @EricTopol @Bob_Wachter @chrischirp @TraceySpicer @MarkedByCovid