LONG BEACH, California, December 1, 2021 / PRNewswire / – Researchers at Nagourney Cancer Institute and Metabolomycs, Inc. announced in today’s issue of PLOS ONE – https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0259909 – a study that showed that the severity of illness and death from COVID-19 can be predicted by a blood test taken at the time of diagnosis.
Working in collaboration with investigators from the Cassems Medical Center in Campo Grande, Brazil, 82 patients with COVID-19 confirmed by RT-PCR were compared to 31 healthy controls.
Blood samples were obtained from each patient and studied for biochemical composition using quantitative mass spectrometry. This technique allowed researchers to measure minute amounts of metabolites in the blood. Investigators have identified metabolic signatures that could distinguish mild COVID-19 infection from more serious and fatal forms of the disease.
“It has long been recognized that people with certain co-morbidities such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease have a higher risk of serious infection with COVID-19,” said Dr. Nagourney, principal investigator. “Our results now confirm the metabolic basis for the severity of COVID-19. Using measurements of amino acids, lipids, and other blood measurements, we have shown that subtle, previously undetectable levels of liver, mitochondrial and immune abnormalities underlie each person’s predisposition to potentially fatal COVID. . -19 infected. “
The implications could be profound as it could allow the healthcare community to stratify patients based on individual risk, allowing physicians to allocate more efficient medical resources and treat those most at risk earlier in the course. disease before serious complications set in. The results suggest that it is not the infectious organism, in this case the COVID-19 virus, but rather the individual’s response to the infection that determines the outcome. This could have important ramifications for handling new variations as they arise.
“When we compared the usual risk factors such as obesity to our new metabolic signatures, the biochemical measurements proved to be highly discriminatory and could in the future allow us to find otherwise healthy and younger patients who are destined to develop more serious illness, all in time to intervene, ”Nagourney said.
The quantitative mass spectrometry platform used in this study is a revolutionary technology that has already been applied by Dr. Nagourney’s team for the diagnosis and prognosis of breast, ovarian and other cancers, as these authors reported it in Scientific reports, Oncotarget and more recently Gynecological oncology.
About the Nagourney Cancer Institute and Metabolomycs
The Nagourney Cancer Institute is a clinical research center that pioneered the study of human tumor tissue for individualized drug selection in cancer patients and facilitated the discovery of anticancer drugs. Metabolomycs, Inc is a Californiabased company that applies metabolic signatures measured by mass spectrometry to study human health and disease. Visit www.nagourneycancerinstitute.com and www.metabolomycs.com for more information.
SOURCE Nagourney Cancer Institute
