Arterial Stiffness and Oxidized LDL Independently Associated With Post-Acute Sequalae of SARS-CoV-2

• Published in: Pathogens & immunity 2023, Vol.8 (2), p.1-15
• Main Authors: Zisis, Sokratis N, Durieux, Jared C, Mouchati, Christian, Funderburg, Nicholas, Ailstock, Kate, Chong, Mary, Labbato, Danielle, McComsey, Grace A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arterial stiffness; Cardiovascular disease; COVID; Endothelial function; Long COVID; PASC
• ISSN: 2469-2964; 2469-2964
• DOI: 10.20411/pai.v8i2.634

COVID-19 survivors can experience lingering symptoms known as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) that appear in different phenotypes, and its etiology remains elusive. We assessed the relationship of endothelial dysfunction with having COVID and PASC. Data was collected from a prospectively enrolled cohort (n=379) of COVID-negative and COVID-positive participants with and without PASC. Primary outcomes, endothelial function (measured by reactive hyperemic index [RHI]), and arterial elasticity (measured by augmentation index standardized at 75 bpm [AI]), were measured using the FDA approved EndoPAT. Patient characteristics, labs, metabolic measures, markers of inflammation, and oxidized LDL (ox-LDL) were collected at each study visit, and PASC symptoms were categorized into 3 non-exclusive phenotypes: cardiopulmonary, neurocognitive, and general. COVID-negative controls were propensity score matched to COVID-negative-infected cases using the greedy nearest neighbor method. There were 14.3% of participants who were fully recovered COVID positive and 28.5% who were COVID positive with PASC, averaging 8.64 ± 6.26 total number of symptoms. The mean RHI was similar across the cohort and having COVID or PASC was not associated with endothelial function ( =0.33). Age (