Circulating Endothelial Cells as a Marker of Endothelial Injury in Severe COVID -19
Christophe Guervilly, Stéphane Burtey, Florence Sabatier, Raphaël Cauchois, Guillaume Lano, Evelyne Abdili, Florence Daviet, Laurent Arnaud, Philippe Brunet, Sami Hraiech, Noémie Jourde‐Chiche, Marie Koubi, Romaric Lacroix, Léa Pietri, Yaël Berda, Thomas Robert, Clara Degioanni, Mélanie Velier, Laurent Papazian, Gilles Kaplanski, Françoise Dignat‐George
Abstract
Beside the commonly described pulmonary expression of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), major vascular events have been reported. The objective of this study was to investigate whether increased levels of circulating endothelial cells (CECs) might be associated with severe forms of COVID-19. Ninety-nine patients with COVID-19 were enrolled in this retrospective study. Patients in the intensive care units (ICU) had significantly higher CEC counts than non-ICU patients and the extent of endothelial injury was correlated with putative markers of disease severity and inflammatory cytokines. Together, these data provide in vivo evidence that endothelial injury is a key feature of COVID-19.