COVID-19-Induced Thrombosis in Patients without Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Elevated Fecal Calprotectin: Hypothesis Regarding Mechanism of Intestinal Damage Associated with COVID-19

Background: Patients with coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) and gastrointestinal symptoms showed increased values of fecal calprotectin (FC). Additionally, bowel abnormalities were a common finding during abdominal imaging of individuals with COVID-19 despite being asymptomatic. The cur...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Tropical medicine and infectious disease 2020-09, Vol.5 (3), p.147
Main Authors: Giuffrè, Mauro, Di Bella, Stefano, Sambataro, Gianluca, Zerbato, Verena, Cavallaro, Marco, Occhipinti, Alessandro Agostino, Palermo, Andrea, Crescenzi, Anna, Monica, Fabio, Luzzati, Roberto, Crocè, Lory Saveria
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
bowel perforation
Brief Report
COVID-19
D-Dimer
fecal calprotectin
SARS-CoV-2
thrombosis
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background: Patients with coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) and gastrointestinal symptoms showed increased values of fecal calprotectin (FC). Additionally, bowel abnormalities were a common finding during abdominal imaging of individuals with COVID-19 despite being asymptomatic. The current pilot study aims at evaluating FC concentrations in patients without gastrointestinal symptoms. Methods: we enrolled 25 consecutive inpatients with COVID-19 pneumonia, who were admitted without gastrointestinal symptoms and a previous history of inflammatory bowel disease. Results: At admission, 21 patients showed increased FC with median values of 116 (87.5; 243.5) mg/kg despite absent gastrointestinal symptoms. We found a strong positive correlation between FC and D-Dimer (r = 0.745, p < 0.0001). Two patients developed bowel perforation. Conclusion: our findings may change the current understanding of COVID-19 intestinal-related disease pathogenesis, shedding new light on the potential role of thrombosis and the consequent hypoxic intestinal damage.
ISSN:2414-6366
2414-6366
DOI:10.3390/tropicalmed5030147