Author(s):
Reina-Couto, Marta ; Alves, David ; Silva-Pereira, Carolina ; Pereira-Terra, Patrícia ; Martins, Sandra ; Bessa, João ; Teixeira-Santos, Luísa ; Pinho, Dora ; Morato, Manuela ; Dias, Cláudia Camila ; Sarmento, António ; Tavares, Margarida ; Guimarães, João T. ; Roncon-Albuquerque, Roberto ; Paiva, José Artur ; Albino-Teixeira, António ; Sousa, Teresa
Date: 2025
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/179283
Origin: Repositório Institucional da UNL
Subject(s): COVID-19; Endocan; Endotheliitis; Hypertension; RAAS inhibitors; VV-ECMO; Immunology; Pharmacology
Description
Publisher Copyright: © 2025. The Author(s).
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Endocan has been scarcely explored in COVID-19, especially regarding its modulation by veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO), hypertension or previous renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitors treatment. We compared endocan and other endotheliitis markers in hospitalized COVID-19 patients and assessed their modulation by VV-ECMO, hypertension and previous RAAS inhibitors treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Serum endocan, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and E-selectin were measured in "severe" (n = 27), "critically ill" (n = 17) and "critically ill on VV-ECMO" (n = 17) COVID-19 patients at admission, days 3-4, 5-8 and weekly thereafter, and in controls (n = 23) at a single time point. RESULTS: Admission endocan and VCAM-1 were increased in all patients, but "critically ill on VV-ECMO" patients had higher endocan and E-Selectin. Endocan remained elevated throughout hospitalization in all groups. "Severe" and "critically ill" hypertensive patients or previously treated with RAAS inhibitors had higher endocan and/or VCAM-1, but in VV-ECMO patients the raised endocan values seemed unrelated with these factors. Among all COVID-19 hypertensive patients, those with previous RAAS inhibitors treatment had higher endocan. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, endocan stands out as the best marker of endotheliitis in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, being upregulated by VV-ECMO support, hypertension and previous RAAS inhibitor treatment.
