Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Jul 27, 2025 6 hours, 28 minutes ago
Thailand Medical News: A new breakthrough study from Japanese researchers has uncovered a potential way to protect the body’s blood vessels from the destructive effects of COVID-19. The research focused on a naturally occurring lipid molecule called lysophosphatidic acid, or LPA, which may help prevent the vascular injuries and inflammation commonly seen in severe COVID-19 cases.
Lipid Compound Shows Promise in Shielding Blood Vessels from COVID-19 Damage
Led by scientists from the University of Fukui, Osaka University, Juntendo University School of Medicine, and the Medical Research Institute in Tokyo, the study explored how LPA might stop the damage SARS-CoV-2 causes to the endothelial cells that line blood vessels. These cells play a critical role in keeping blood vessels stable and preventing clot formation—two functions that are often impaired in COVID-19 patients.
This
Thailand Medical News report highlights how LPA could become a novel therapeutic tool, especially for high-risk groups like the elderly or those with hypertension and diabetes, whose vascular systems are already vulnerable.
What LPA Does Inside the Body
LPA is a lipid molecule that’s already known to help in wound healing and blood vessel formation. In this study, researchers created 3D models using human blood vessel cells taken from lungs, kidneys, and the brain to simulate how COVID-19 impacts vascular tissues. These lab-grown blood vessels were then infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
When the vessels were treated with LPA, the damage caused by the virus was significantly reduced. Without LPA, the vessels began to break down and lost their structure. But with LPA, the vessels remained largely intact, showing minimal damage even in the presence of the virus.
More impressively, LPA was found to suppress the inflammatory signals triggered by SARS-CoV-2 infection. RNA analysis showed that LPA treatment lowered the expression of key pro-inflammatory genes such as TNF and interferons, and restored the expression of genes responsible for maintaining tight cell-to-cell connections in blood vessels.
Animal Trials Confirm Protective Effects
To test whether LPA could also work in living organisms, researchers infected Syrian hamsters with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Some were treated with LPA while others were not. Lung tissues from the untreated hamsters showed severe inflammation and broken blood vessels. In contrast, the hamsters that received LPA had reduced inflammation and far less vascular damage. Gene analysis of their lung tissues also showed lower levels of clotting and inflammatory markers.
What This Means for the Future of COVID-19 Treatments
The researchers concluded that LPA might be a valuable addition to current treatment strategies for COVID-19 by offering direct protection to blood vessels. By strengthening vascular structures and suppressing inflammatory responses, LPA could help reduce the
severity of disease and prevent long-term complications like blood clots, organ damage, and post-COVID syndromes. While LPA is not a cure, its role as a vasoprotective agent holds great promise and could complement existing antivirals. More studies will be needed to refine the use of LPA or develop drugs that target its key receptor, LPA4, with higher specificity and safety.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Scientific Reports
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-06569-7
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https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/covid-19-damages-human-blood-vessels
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/many-who-had-mild-covid-19-found-to-have-ongoing-damage-to-their-blood-vessels-and-lungs-even-two-years-on
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/covid-19-spike-protein-triggers-dangerous-arginine-imbalance-in-blood-vessels
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