“COVID-19 is, in the end, an endothelial disease”
Excerpt:
“This essay explores the hypothesis that COVID-19, particularly in the later complicated stages, represents an endothelial disease.
Cytokines, protein pro-inflammatory mediators, serve as key danger signals that shift endothelial functions from the homeostatic into the defensive mode. The endgame of COVID-19 usually involves a cytokine storm, a phlogistic phenomenon fed by well-understood positive feedback loops that govern cytokine production and overwhelm counter-regulatory mechanisms.
The concept of COVID-19 as an endothelial disease provides a unifying pathophysiological picture of this raging infection, and also provides a framework for a rational treatment strategy at a time when we possess an indeed modest evidence base to guide our therapeutic attempts to confront this novel pandemic.”
“COVID-19 is, in the end, an endothelial disease”
European Heart Journal, August 2020, by Peter Libby and Thomas
You might be interested in reading more about the cardiovascular endothelium.
