Study to look at how virus damages the heart, brain, liver and kidneys

RESEARCHERS are studying how Covid is damaging organs such as the brain and heart.

Work led by a team from Leicester will use MRI scans of participants, along with health records and blood tests, to compare the organs of those who have had Covid-19 and those who have not.

It will look at any organ damage caused by coronavirus, as well as the impact of other underlying health conditions.

Previous research, such as the C-More and Covid-Heart studies, which recruited more than 900 people who had the virus, including 115 people from Leicester, found the virus can damage the heart, brain, liver and kidneys.

The new research will look at how Covid-19 causes the damage, with the aim of finding potential treatments.

Health conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, type two diabetes, and heart disease are known risk factors for Covid-19.

As these health conditions can also cause organ damage, it can be difficult to see what damage has been caused by Covid-19 at the same time.

The Cosmic study will be run by the National Institute for Health Research with Leicester Biomedical Research Centre.

Dr Ranjit Arnold, who is leading the study, said: “We know that how poorly someone becomes during and after a Covid-19 infection depends on many factors, including their age, socio-economic background and whether they have other health conditions. “Teasing out how much organ damage is due to the virus itself rather than these other underlying health conditions is key to improving our understanding of how Covid-19 can affect the organs. “To do this we will ask a large group of people who haven’t had Covid-19 but may have similar underlying health conditions to make comparisons.”

Participants on the trial will have an MRI scan on their heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and brain.

Dr Arnold said: “Using our stateof-the-art MRI scanner at Glenfield Hospital we can investigate the condition of people’s organs without any sort of invasive procedure.

“The scanner helps us accurately assess the structure and function of the major organs.

“By using these scans we will be able to investigate how frequently damage occurs, and further down the line this will give us information regarding injury patterns, and whether Covid-19 has a specific damage pattern.”

Teasing out how much organ damage is due to coronavirus rather than underlying health conditions is key Dr Ranjit Arnold