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US scientists link mitochondrial DNA levels with severity of COVID-19
21 January 2021 | News Mitochondrial DNA levels were much higher in patients who eventually were admitted to the ICU, intubated or died
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Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis have shown that a relatively simple and rapid blood test can predict within a day of a hospital admission which patients with COVID-19 are at highest risk of severe complications or death.
The study, published Jan 14 in JCI Insight, involved nearly 100 patients newly admitted to the hospital with COVID-19.
The blood test measures levels of mitochondrial DNA, a unique type of DNA molecule that normally resides inside the energy factories of cells.
Biomarker of Alzheimer s found to be regulated by sleep cycles
Immune cells known as microglia (turquoise with red dots) surrounding amyloid plaques
Brian Lananna
Brian Lananna
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) in St. Louis have spent some years investigating the links between circadian rhythm and Alzheimer’s, and have recently been making some real inroads. Following a 2018 study demonstrating how disrupted sleep can accelerate the buildup of toxic plaques associated with the disease, the team has now identified a protein implicated in the progression of the disease that appears highly regulated by the circadian rhythm, helping them join the dots and providing a potential new therapeutic target.