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18 Results Found

  • Review
  • Open Access
9 Citations
6,515 Views
33 Pages

Fibrinaloid Microclots and Atrial Fibrillation

  • Douglas B. Kell,
  • Gregory Y. H. Lip and
  • Etheresia Pretorius

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a comorbidity of a variety of other chronic, inflammatory diseases for which fibrinaloid microclots are a known accompaniment (and in some cases, a cause, with a mechanistic basis). Clots are, of course, a well-known conse...

  • Article
  • Open Access
53 Citations
27,698 Views
17 Pages

We have previously demonstrated that platelet-poor plasma (PPP) obtained from patients with Long COVID/Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) is characterized by a hypercoagulable state and contains hyperactivated platelets and considerable numbers o...

  • Opinion
  • Open Access
10 Citations
18,657 Views
18 Pages

Possible Role of Fibrinaloid Microclots in Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS): Focus on Long COVID

  • Douglas B. Kell,
  • Muhammed Asad Khan,
  • Binita Kane,
  • Gregory Y. H. Lip and
  • Etheresia Pretorius

31 January 2024

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a common accompaniment of a variety of chronic, inflammatory diseases, including long COVID, as are small, insoluble, ‘fibrinaloid’ microclots. We here develop the argument, with accompa...

  • Hypothesis
  • Open Access
4 Citations
6,431 Views
11 Pages

27 June 2024

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a key regulator in vasoregulation and the renin–angiotensin system, is hypothesized to be downregulated in patients with COVID-19, leading to a cascade of cardiovascular complications. This deactivation p...

  • Article
  • Open Access
4 Citations
6,471 Views
48 Pages

8 October 2024

In classical amyloidoses, amyloid fibres form through the nucleation and accretion of protein monomers, with protofibrils and fibrils exhibiting a cross-β motif of parallel or antiparallel β-sheets oriented perpendicular to the fibre direct...

  • Review
  • Open Access
6 Citations
10,465 Views
61 Pages

‘Blood stasis’ (syndrome) (BSS) is a fundamental concept in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), where it is known as Xue Yu (血瘀). Similar concepts exist in Traditional Korean Medicine (‘Eohyul’) and in Japanese K...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
5,578 Views
24 Pages

Computational Prediction of the Interaction of Ivermectin with Fibrinogen

  • Paola Vottero,
  • Scott Tavernini,
  • Alessandro D. Santin,
  • David E. Scheim,
  • Jack A. Tuszynski and
  • Maral Aminpour

Hypercoagulability and formation of extensive and difficult-to-lyse microclots are a hallmark of both acute COVID-19 and long COVID. Fibrinogen, when converted to fibrin, is responsible for clot formation, but abnormal structural and mechanical clot...

  • Review
  • Open Access
36 Citations
16,369 Views
21 Pages

TEG®, Microclot and Platelet Mapping for Guiding Early Management of Severe COVID-19 Coagulopathy

  • Gert Jacobus Laubscher,
  • Petrus Johannes Lourens,
  • Chantelle Venter,
  • Douglas B Kell and
  • Etheresia Pretorius

18 November 2021

An important component of severe COVID-19 disease is virus-induced endothelilitis. This leads to disruption of normal endothelial function, initiating a state of failing normal clotting physiology. Massively increased levels of von Willebrand Factor...

  • Review
  • Open Access
5 Citations
5,171 Views
17 Pages

3 February 2025

A recent analysis compared the proteome of (i) blood clots seen in two diseases—sepsis and long COVID—when blood was known to have clotted into an amyloid microclot form (as judged by staining with the fluorogenic amyloid stain thioflavin...

  • Article
  • Open Access
5,839 Views
16 Pages

29 May 2025

Background/Objectives: Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a debilitating condition with not fully understood causes, though evidence points to immune system involvement and possible autoimmunity. ME/CFS could be triggered...

  • Article
  • Open Access
71 Citations
8,051 Views
14 Pages

Erythrocyte, Platelet, Serum Ferritin, and P-Selectin Pathophysiology Implicated in Severe Hypercoagulation and Vascular Complications in COVID-19

  • Chantelle Venter,
  • Johannes Andries Bezuidenhout,
  • Gert Jacobus Laubscher,
  • Petrus Johannes Lourens,
  • Janami Steenkamp,
  • Douglas B. Kell and
  • Etheresia Pretorius

3 November 2020

Progressive respiratory failure is seen as a major cause of death in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2)-induced infection. Relatively little is known about the associated morphologic and molecular changes in the circulation...

  • Hypothesis
  • Open Access
7,062 Views
23 Pages

30 June 2025

Background/Objectives: Chronic illness after COVID-19 vaccination (longvax) lacks a therapeutic protocol anchored in pathophysiology. Persistent vaccine derived spike protein appears to trigger microvascular fibrin amyloid microclots, immune dysfunct...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
3,184 Views
15 Pages

7 April 2022

Viscoelastic testing (VET) by both TEG and ROTEM has demonstrated hypercoagulability early in corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) associated coagulopathy (CAC). Additional VET studies demonstrated fibrinolytic shutdown late in a majority of severely...

  • Review
  • Open Access
5 Citations
7,224 Views
16 Pages

30 May 2025

Since the initial reports of Long COVID symptoms, numerous pathophysiological mechanisms have been proposed to explain them; nevertheless, no consensus has been reached. Some of these mechanisms are directly linked to microcirculation, while others a...

  • Article
  • Open Access
60 Citations
17,953 Views
17 Pages

Long COVID: Association of Functional Autoantibodies against G-Protein-Coupled Receptors with an Impaired Retinal Microcirculation

  • Charlotte Szewczykowski,
  • Christian Mardin,
  • Marianna Lucio,
  • Gerd Wallukat,
  • Jakob Hoffmanns,
  • Thora Schröder,
  • Franziska Raith,
  • Lennart Rogge,
  • Felix Heltmann and
  • Bettina Hohberger
  • + 12 authors

Long COVID (LC) describes the clinical phenotype of symptoms after infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Diagnostic and therapeutic options are limited, as the pathomechanism of LC is elusive. As the number...

  • Article
  • Open Access
9 Citations
4,302 Views
31 Pages

29 September 2022

COVID-19 patients often develop coagulopathies including microclotting, thrombotic strokes or thrombocytopenia. Autoantibodies are present against blood-related proteins including cardiolipin (CL), serum albumin (SA), platelet factor 4 (PF4), beta 2...

  • Article
  • Open Access
25 Citations
6,153 Views
19 Pages

Micro-Clotting of Platelet-Rich Plasma Upon Loading in Hydrogel Microspheres Leads to Prolonged Protein Release and Slower Microsphere Degradation

  • Miran Hannah Choi,
  • Alexandra Blanco,
  • Samuel Stealey,
  • Xin Duan,
  • Natasha Case,
  • Scott Allen Sell,
  • Muhammad Farooq Rai and
  • Silviya Petrova Zustiak

30 July 2020

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an autologous blood product that contains a variety of growth factors (GFs) that are released upon platelet activation. Despite some therapeutic potential of PRP in vitro, in vivo data are not convincing. Bolus injection...

  • Hypothesis
  • Open Access
11 Citations
6,585 Views
13 Pages

23 January 2024

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a frequent, debilitating and still enigmatic disease. There is a broad overlap in the symptomatology of ME/CFS and the Post-COVID-19 Syndrome (PCS). A fraction of the PCS patients develop...