American scientists from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found out what is a sign of imminent death from COVID-19.
The conclusions were drawn after analyzing the blood plasma of coronavirus-infected patients for the detection of freely circulating mitochondrial DNA.
MtDNA is an indicator of cell death.
Science knows that mtDNA levels increase in diseases such as sepsis, hemorrhagic shock, and ischemia.
Regarding coronavirus, high levels of mtDNA have been identified in patients admitted to the intensive care unit due to the risk of death.
Moreover, in this case, scientists did not find a relationship between this indicator either with the age or gender of the patient, as well as with the presence of chronic diseases.
The level of mtDNA increased approximately 10-fold in patients with lung dysfunction, and the increase in mtDNA itself increased the risk of intubation 6-fold, intensive care 3-fold, and 2-fold increased mortality.
According to doctors, this test predicts the outcome of patients’ treatment better than other tests, while it is carried out as quickly as the PCR test.
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