These Are the Effects of Covid-19 on Women's Arteries

The first author is Rosa Bruno from the University of Paris Cite, but scientists from Vienna, including pulmonologist Otto Burghuber, were also involved. "We know that Covid-19 can directly affect blood vessels. We believe this can lead to what we call 'premature vascular aging'. This means that the blood vessels (in their function; note) are older than the chronological age and there is a greater susceptibility to heart disease," Bruno was quoted in a release about the scientific study.

Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases Due to Covid-19

In general, human blood vessels, especially the arteries, gradually become stiffer with age. This increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke and heart attack. The study included 2,390 people from 16 countries (Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the USA), who were enrolled between September 2020 and February 2022. The subjects were then categorized based on whether they had never had Covid-19, had recently recovered from the disease, had been treated in the hospital, or even in an intensive care unit.

Severe Covid-19 Illness Causes Stiffer Vessels

The scientists examined the vascular age of each participant with a device that measures how quickly a wave of blood pressure travels between the carotid artery and the femoral arteries. This is referred to as "carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity" (PWV). The higher the measured speed, the stiffer the blood vessels and the higher the vascular age of a person. The measurements were taken six months after the Covid infection and again after twelve months.

After accounting for factors such as age, gender, etc., it was found that all three groups of patients who had experienced a Covid-19 illness had stiffer arteries than people without a SARS-CoV-2 infection. This effect was greater in women than in men, and in the latter, it was not statistically significant. Additionally, it depended on the severity of the Covid-19 illness. People with Long Covid also showed more pronounced vascular aging. The average increase in PWV for women who had a mild Covid-19 illness was 0.55 meters per second, whereas it was 0.60 meters for women who had been hospitalized with Covid-19. For women who had to be treated in an intensive care unit, the PWV value was 1.09.

Women "Vascularly Older" by Five Years Due to Covid-19?

According to the current state of science, an increase in PWV of about 0.5 meters per second is already "clinically relevant." This corresponds to vascular aging of about five years, with a three percent increased risk of cardiovascular diseases in a 60-year-old woman. People who had been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 generally had arteries that were less stiff than those with Covid-19 and without immunization. In the long term, the vascular aging associated with Covid infection seemed to stabilize or even improve.

Rosa Bruno: "There are several possible explanations for the vascular effects of Covid-19. The SARS-CoV-2 virus acts on certain receptors in the body, the ACE2 receptors, which are present in the lining of blood vessels. The virus uses these receptors to enter and infect cells. This can lead to vascular disorders and accelerated vascular aging. Inflammation and immune reactions of our body, which protect against infections, may also be involved."

Stronger Immune Reaction to Covid-19 in Women

There is also a hypothesis that the vascular aging process due to Covid-19 was not statistically significant in male subjects. "One of the reasons for the difference between women and men could be differences in the function of the immune system. Women develop a faster and more robust immune response, which can protect them from infection. However, this reaction can also increase the damage to blood vessels after the initial infection," explained the expert. Rosa Bruno and her co-authors will continue to observe the study participants in the coming years. This is to determine whether the accelerated vascular aging will lead to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes in the future.

(APA/Red)

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