Identifying the role of blood clotting factors in life-threatening clots formed in COVID-19 patients helps to develop a new therapeutic intervention.

To understand these clot formations recent research published in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis by RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences shows that the balance between von Willebrand Factor (VWF)(blood clotting factor) and its regulator is disrupted in severe COVID-19 patients.
When compared to control groups, higher levels of the pro-clotting VWF molecules and lower levels of the anti-clotting ADAMTS13 regulator molecule with changes in proteins are identified in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
"Our research helps provide insights into the mechanisms that cause severe blood clots in patients with Covid-19, which is critical to developing more effective treatments," said Dr Jamie O'Sullivan, the study's corresponding author and research lecturer within the Irish Centre for Vascular Biology at RCSI.
This breakthrough finding necessitates more research focusing on correcting the levels of ADAMTS13 and VWF can be a successful therapeutic intervention for severe COVID-19 patients.
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