Patients with COVID-19 face an increased risk for developing blood clots that can lead to strokes. Biomarkers would be useful for identifying the early onset of clots in COVID-19 patients, when anti-clot treatment might prevent serious consequences.

In a study published online on August 25 in Critical Care, Gaetano Santulli, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues found that hospitalized COVID-19 patients with low plasma levels of a microRNA called miR-24 faced a significantly higher risk for developing clot-caused strokes compared with COVID-19 patients with higher miR-24 levels. The association between miR-24 levels and stroke persisted even after the researchers controlled for factors including age, the presence of hypertension or of diabetes, and levels of D-dimer, an established biomarker for blood clots. The results indicate that miR-24 plasma levels could serve as a useful biomarker for assessing stroke risk in COVID-19 patients.

Dr. Santulli is an associate professor of medicine and of molecular pharmacology at Einstein.