A new study funded by the National Institutes of Health has found that children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), a rare condition linked with COVID-19, have unique biochemical indicators of cell injury and cell death that are different from other children with COVID-19. Researchers used high-speed, AI-controlled molecular sequencing to analyse blood and plasma RNA and plasma DNA to find biomarkers indicating damage to multiple organs, the lining of blood vessels, and the nervous system. MIS-C usually occurs two to six weeks after SARS-CoV-2 infection, causing inflammation in various parts of the body.
The study analysed 416 blood samples from 237 patients and distinguished between patients with MIS-C and COVID-19. Researchers believe their findings could lead to the development of tests that can distinguish between MIS-C and other conditions with widespread inflammation and more appropriate treatments for each condition. The study was conducted by Charles Y. Chiu, M.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues at several other institutions and was funded by NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). The study appears in Cell Reports Medicine.
