RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The clinical spectrum of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection ranges from an asymptomatic to life-threatening disease. Considering the broad spectrum of severity, reliable biomarkers are required for early risk stratification and prediction of clinical outcomes. Despite numerous efforts, no COVID-19-specific biomarker has been established to guide further diagnostic or even therapeutic approaches, most likely due to insufficient validation, methodical complexity, or economic factors. COVID-19-associated coagulopathy is a hallmark of the disease and is mainly attributed to dysregulated immunothrombosis. This process describes an intricate interplay of platelets, innate immune cells, the coagulation cascade, and the vascular endothelium leading to both micro- and macrothrombotic complications. In this context, increased levels of immunothrombotic components, including platelet and platelet-leukocyte aggregates, have been described and linked to COVID-19 severity. METHODS: Here, we describe a label-free quantitative phase imaging approach, allowing the identification of cell-aggregates and their components at single-cell resolution within 30 min, which prospectively qualifies the method as point-of-care (POC) testing. RESULTS: We find a significant association between the severity of COVID-19 and the amount of platelet and platelet-leukocyte aggregates. Additionally, we observe a linkage between severity, aggregate composition, and size distribution of platelets in aggregates. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents a POC-compatible method for rapid quantitative analysis of blood cell aggregates in patients with COVID-19.
The human body produces a series of immune responses when it gets infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. One of these responses involves platelets, the blood clotting factor sticking to immune cells to form cell aggregates in the bloodstream. We aimed to understand the significance of these cell aggregates in COVID-19 disease progression. A quantitative imaging approach was used to investigate the number and components of these cell aggregates in SARS-CoV-2 infected patient blood. We observed blood from severe COVID-19 patients was associated with higher numbers and specific composition of cell aggregates. Our method can potentially support the risk stratification of severe patients to prevent complications in COVID-19 and other medical disorders, where immune cells are shown to aggregate.