Clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with sickle cell disease and sickle cell trait: A critical appraisal of the literature

Plasma Levels of Acyl-Carnitines and Carboxylic Acids Correlate With Cardiovascular and Kidney Function in Subjects With Sickle Cell Trait

“…Since this pathway is activated by viral infection via the cGAS-STING response ( Di Domizio et al, 2022 ), and circulating mitochondrial DNA is a DAMP that can stimulate this axis in SCD ( Tumburu et al, 2021 ), it is interesting to speculate that interferon signaling (not tested in this study) may be basally active in SCT, making them more susceptible to untoward inflammatory consequences underlying the etiology of inflammaging associated comorbidities (e.g., anemia of aging, cardiovascular dysfunction) ( Franceschi et al, 2018 ) and the severity of widespread infections like SARS-CoV-2 ( D'Alessandro et al, 2021b ; Thomas et al, 2020b ; Cai et al, 2020 ; Lawler et al, 2021 ; Danlos et al, 2021 ). Individuals with SCT would be at higher risk of SARS-CoV-2-related hospitalization and death than non-carriers ( Hoogenboom et al, 2021 ; Merz et al, 2021 ) and several cases of vaso-occlusive-like events have been reported in individuals with SCT infected by SARS-CoV-2 66,67 . In addition, some kynurenine metabolites that we found to be elevated in SCT individuals (e.g., kynurenic or picolinic acid) are neuroactive metabolites, with a potential role in cognitive impairment ( Powers et al, 2019 ) and nociception ( Heyliger et al, 1998 ), with potential implication in pain crises in SCD patients, which are rarely reported in subjects with SCT.…”

Immunogenicity of The BNT162b2 COVID-19 mRNA and ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Vaccines in Patients with Hemoglobinopathies

“…Cardiac and respiratory conditions are major comorbidities in this population and are the leading cause of death [7]. These patients are at high-risk for COVID-19 complications, with a mortality of 4/162 (2.5%) in SCD and 13/84 (15.5%) in thalassemia patients when hospitalized [8][9][10]. As such, this population of patients should be prioritized for primary prevention of COVID-19 via vaccination as recommended by the centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) [11], the Thalassemia International Federation (TIF) [12], and the National Health Service-England (NHSE) [13].…”

Redox stress in COVID-19: Implications for hematologic disorders

“…The Center for Disease Control and Prevention listed sickle cell disease and thalassemia as medical conditions that could pre-dispose individuals to a higher risk for severe COVID-19. A compiled list of observational and case studies relating to sickle cell patients acquiring COVID-19 have been published (reviewed in [ 107 ]). A summary of the current evidence suggests that sickle cell disease patients have a higher rate of hospitalization, pneumonia, and pain with COVID-19 compared to individuals without the hemoglobinopathy [ 108 ].…”

“…Importantly, hemolysis of sickled red cells releases hemoglobin where free heme could propagate ROS in the vasculature. Furthermore, older sickle cell patients have higher hospitalization rate with COVID-19 compared to younger sickle cell patients [ 107 ]. In this regard, aging is a contributing oxidative co-morbidity to both diseases.…”