Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been associated with impaired subclinical markers of endothelial and vascularfunction.
We investigated whether intervention with Endocalyx (Microvascular Health Solutions),a dietary supplement containing glycosaminoglycans and fucoidan, can improve endothelial glycocalyx integrity,arterial stiffness, and coronary microcirculationin patients after COVID-19 infection.
Fiftypatients within 15 days after a confirmed mild-to-moderate COVID-19infection were randomized to receive Endocalyx(n=25) or placebo (n=25) for 4 months. We measured at baselineand at 4 months of treatment: a) perfused boundary region(PBR) of the sublingual microvessels with a lumen diameter ranging from 4 to 25 μm, as a marker of endothelial glycocalyx integrity, b)carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV - Complior SP ALAM) and c)coronary flow reserve (CFR) using Doppler echocardiography.
Four months after treatment, patients under Endocalyx showed an important reduction of PBR 4-25μm (2.24±0.2 vs. 2.37±0.23μm), PBR 10-19 μm (2.52±0.24 vs. 2.65±0.21μm), PBR 20-25 μm (2.75±0.4 vs. 3.04±0.48μm) and PWV (9.8±2.1 vs. 10.6±2.3m/s) and an improvement of CFR (2.68±0.53 vs. 2.47±0.64) (p<0.05 for all comparisons).No significant changes in the aforementioned markers were observed in placebo group (p>0.05; Table). In patients who were treated with Endocalyx, the percentage reduction of PBR 4-25μm was associated with thecorresponding decrease of PWV (r=0.31, p=0.047) and with the improvement of CFR (r=-0.59, p=0.008) at 4 months.
Four-month treatment with Endocalyx may improve endothelial glycocalyx integrity, coronary and vascular function in patients after COVID-19 infection.
Author notes
Funding Acknowledgements: None.
