Introduction: Patients with community-acquired pneumonia display enhanced levels of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) compared with controls, suggesting that low-grade endotoxemia may be implicated in vascular disturbances. It is unknown whether this occurs in patients with coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) and its impact on thrombotic complications.
Methods: We measured serum levels of zonulin, a marker of gut permeability, LPS, and D-dimer in 81 patients with COVID-19 and 81 healthy subjects; the occurrence of thrombotic events in COVID-19 during the intrahospital stay was registered.
Results: Serum LPS and zonulin were higher in patients with COVID-19 than in control subjects and, in COVID-19, significantly correlated (R = 0.513; P < 0.001). Among the 81 patients with COVID-19, 11 (14%) experienced thrombotic events in the arterial (n = 5) and venous circulation (n = 6) during a median follow-up of 18 days (interquartile range 11-27 days). A logistic regression analysis showed that LPS (P = 0.024) and D-dimer (P = 0.041) independently predicted thrombotic events.
Discussion: The study reports that low-grade endotoxemia is detectable in patients with COVID-19 and is associated with thrombotic events. The coexistence of low-grade endotoxemia with enhanced levels of zonulin may suggest enhanced gut permeability as an underlying mechanism.
Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of The American College of Gastroenterology.