Ceramide Levels and Covid-19 Respiratory Distress, a Causal Relationship

Abstract

A causal relationship between plasma ceramide concentration and Covid-19 patients with respiratory distress symptoms is presented. Hence, monitoring of plasma ceramide concentration, targeting ceramide synthesis, its salvage and its regulatory mechanisms, are validated approach towards enhancing survival from Covid-19 respiratory distress. In this study, plasma samples of 52 individuals infected with Covid-19 were utilized in a lipidomic analysis. Lipids belonging to ceramide class exhibited a 400-fold increase in total plasma concentration in infected patients. Further analysis lead to demonstration of concentration dependency, for severe Covid-19 respiratory symptoms, in a subclass of ceramides. The subclasses Cer(d18:0/24:1), Cer(d18:1/24:1), and Cer(d18:1/22:0) are shown to be increased by 48, 40, and 33–folds respectively in infected plasma samples, and to 116, 91 and 50-folds in plasma samples with respiratory distress.