Pathogenetic role of blood cells and inflammatory mediators in vascular dysfunction in elderly persons by example COVID-19

Rukavishnikova S. A., Pushkin A. S., Akhmedov T. A., Saginbaev U. R., Davydova E. P., Evnevich J. V.

The beginning of 2020 was marked by the declaration of a pandemic of a new coronavirus infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This disease poses a danger to certain categories of citizens, one of the risk groups includes persons of older age groups. The pathogenesis of this infectious disease is characterized by preferential damage to the tissues of the lower respiratory tract, lung parenchyma, as well as vascular dysfunction. Increased permeability of cell membranes and vascular walls was revealed; relatively late immune response formation with the phenomenon of "cytokine storm." The aim of the present study was to identify the distinctive features of hematological indices in elderly patients divided into two groups. The first group included persons with pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2, the second - patients with pneumonia of a different etiology. Statistically significant differences were found in individual erythrocyte, leukocyte and platelet indices.

Keywords:COVID-19, cytokines, old age, blood cells.