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Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) associated endotheliopathy and microvascular dysfunction are of concern., Objective: The objective of the present single-center observational pilot study was to compare endothelial glycocalyx (EG) damage and endotheliopathy in patients with severe COVID-19 (COVID-19 group) with patients with bacterial pneumonia with septic shock (non-COVID group)., Methods: Biomarkers of EG damage (syndecan-1), endothelial cells (EC) damage (thrombomodulin), and activation (P-selectin) were measured in blood on three consecutive days from admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). The sublingual microcirculation was studied by Side-stream Dark Field (SDF) imaging with automatic assessment., Results: We enrolled 13 patients in the non-COVID group (mean age 70 years, 6 women), and 15 in the COVID-19 group (64 years old, 3 women). The plasma concentrations of syndecan-1 were significantly higher in the COVID-19 group during all three days. Differences regarding other biomarkers were not statistically significant. The assessment of the sublingual microcirculation showed improvement on Day 2 in the COVID-19 group. Plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) were significantly higher on the first two days in the COVID-19 group. Plasma syndecan-1 and CRP were higher in patients suffering from severe COVID-19 pneumonia compared to bacterial pneumonia patients., Conclusions: These findings support the role of EG injury in the microvascular dysfunction in COVID-19 patients who require ICU.

The endothelial glycocalyx (EG) is the thin sugar-based lining on the apical surface of endothelial cells. It has been linked to the physiological functioning of the microcirculation and has been found to be damaged in critical illness and after acute care surgery. This review aims to describe the role of EG in severely injured patients undergoing surgery, discuss specific situations (e.G. major trauma, hemorrhagic shock, trauma induced coagulopathy) as well as specific interventions commonly applied in these patients (e.g. fluid therapy, transfusion) and specific drugs related to perioperative medicine with regard to their impact on EG.EG in acute care surgery is exposed to damage due to tissue trauma, inflammation, oxidative stress and inadequate fluid therapy. Even though some interventions (transfusion of plasma, human serum albumin, hydrocortisone, sevoflurane) are described as potentially EG protective there is still no specific treatment for EG protection and recovery in clinical medicine.The most important principle to be adopted in routine clinical practice at present is to acknowledge the fragile structure of the EG and avoid further damage which is potentially related to worsened clinical outcome.

Background: Endothelial glycocalyx (EG) is a carbohydrate-rich vascular lining of the apical surface of endothelial cells. It has been proved to have an essential role in vascular homeostasis. Lipid emulsions as part of parenteral nutrition (PN) are widely used in patients in the setting of critical care and perioperative medicine. Due to their structure, lipids may potentially interact with EG. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of lipid emulsion on EG., Objective: To assess the influence of lipid emulsion on EG integrity in ICU patients using a videomicroscopic and biochemical methods., Methods: Patients in surgical ICU after major abdominal surgery or cardio surgery and in general ICU were assessed for eligibility for this pilot observational study in University Hospital. The study was performed during the first day of adding lipids as a part of their PN. The patients were given the SMOFlipid 20% for 6 hours in prescribed dose of approx. 1 g/kg of body weight. EG integrity was measured indirectly by automated sublingual videomicroscopy calculating a parameter PBR which describes the amount of lateral deviation of red blood cells from the central column and by levels of syndecan-1 and syndecan-4 in plasma as EG degradational products. Measurements were performed before lipid administration (T0) and 30 minutes after (T6) the infusion of lipid emulsion was completed. The statistical analysis was performed at the level of significance p < 0.05, data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD) and for PBR as median and interquartile range (IQR)., Results: Fifteen patients were studied, from them 9 included in final analysis. PBR (expressed in μm) increased after the lipid infusion with no statistical significance (T0 = 2.10; 1.97-2.33 vs. 2.28; 2.11-2.45, p = 0.13). At T6 both syndecans showed statistically significant decrease in their particular levels. Syndecan-1 at T0 = 2580±1013 ng/l, resp. at T6 = 2365±1077 ng/l, p = 0.02; syndecan-4 at T0 = 134±29 ng/l, resp. at T6 = 123±43 ng/l, p = 0.04., Conclusion: In our study, we showed that six hours long SMOFlipid 20% infusion had no detrimental effect on the EG integrity as assessed by PBR value and by syndecan-1 and syndecan-4 plasmatic levels. Observed decrease of syndecans shortly after lipid infusion allows us to hypothesize even possibly protecting effect of lipids on EG.

The purpose of this manuscript is to review the role of endothelial glycocalyx (EG) in the field of critical and perioperative medicine and to discuss possible future directions for investigations in this area. Under physiological conditions, EG has several well-defined functions aimed to prevent the disruption of vessel wall integrity. Under pathological conditions, the EG represent one of the earliest sites of injury during inflammation. EG structure and function distortion contribute to organ dysfunction related to sepsis, trauma, or global ischemia of any origin. Discovering new therapeutic approaches (either pharmacological or non-pharmacological) aimed to protect the EG against injury represents a promising direction in clinical medicine. Further, the currently-used common interventions in the acutely ill - fluids, blood products, nutritional support, organ-supporting techniques (e.g. continuous renal replacement therapy, extracorporeal circulation), temperature modulation and many others - should be re-evaluated during acute illness in terms of their EG "friendliness". To assess new therapies that protect the EG, or to evaluate the effect of currently-used interventions on EG integrity, a relevant marker or method to determine EG damage is needed. Such marker or method should be available to clinicians within hours, preferably in the form of a point-of-care test at the bedside. Collaborative research between clinical disciplines and laboratory medicine is warranted, and targeting the EG represents major challenges for both.

The endothelial glycocalyx (EG) lining the endoluminal surface of the capillaries has been proposed as a key component of the microcirculation and a major player in microvascular pathology. Recent advances in the understanding of its physiological role and clinical significance have been made upon the development of methods allowing EG assessment in clinical medicine. Laboratory methods can assess the amount of EG damage by measuring levels of its degradation products (e.g. syndecan-1, heparan sulphate and hyaluronan sulphate), mostly in the plasma, however, their physiological turnover disqualifies them from being the reliable index of EG damage. At the bedside, in vivo video microscopy tools technologies (e.g. Side-stream Dark Field imaging technology) allow indirect assessment of EG thickness in sublingual microcirculation by measuring the penetration extent (called Perfused Boundary Region) of flowing red blood cells into the EG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]