COAGULATION AND ANTICOAGULATION PARAMETERS IN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS PATIENTS WITH AND WITHOUT COVID-19

Abstract

The aim. To investigate plasma levels of main coagulation and fibrinolytic factors in MS patients with and without COVID-19 history. Materials and methods. A total of 127 participants were enrolled in this study, including 97 MS patients and 30 healthy controls (HC). Patients with MS were divided into two groups: MS+Covid group (n=41) – patients with MS, who had a laboratory-verified diagnosis of COVID-19 in the past 3-6-month period and MS group (n=56) – patients with MS, who did not suffer from COVID-19 previously. Determination of plasma levels of prothrombin, plasminogen, tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), protein C (PC), soluble thrombomodulin (TM) was performed by means of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Spectrophotometric techniques were used to determine concentrations of fibrinogen, soluble fibrin monomeric complexes (SFMC) as well as plasminogen activity and inhibitory potential of α-2-antiplasmin. Results. The MS group was characterized by elevated levels of plasma prothrombin, fibrinogen, D-dimer, SFMC, soluble TM compared to HC, while PC concentration did not differ between MS and HC groups. Plasma plasminogen level as well as plasma level of the potential plasmin activity were significantly decreased in MS patients compared to HC group. The plasma tPA level was significantly reduced while plasma PAI-I level was significantly increased in MS patients compared to HC. Patients of MS group had an increased level of plasma α-2-antiplasmin activity compared with HC group. To note, most of studied parameters did not differ between two MS groups, except protein C, soluble thrombomodulin levels and plasma α-2-antiplasmin activity. Conclusions. The results of our study showed that MS patients have got altered hemostasis parameters; however, further study is necessary to find out the relationship between particular components of coagulation and fibrinolytic systems and pathophysiology of MS. Additionally, our findings demonstrated that a SARS-CoV-2 infection had a limited effect on hemostasis parameters in MS patients, causing changes in only a few parameters, including thrombomodulin and protein C levels as well as α-2-antiplasmin activity.