TEMPORAL LIPIDOMIC INVESTIGATION IN COVID-19 PATIENTS

• Grant number: 25/06068-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: August 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Analytical Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Alessandra Sussulini
• Grantee: Gabriela de Oliveira Rodrigues
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Covid-19, responsible for the pandemic started in 2020, is a respiratory system infection that is transmitted through saliva droplets, cough, sneezing and contact with infected objects. For patients, the presence of comorbidities such as diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia and cardiovascular diseases can increase the severity of the disease. Viruses alter cellular metabolism to ensure favorable conditions for their proliferation, mainly affecting the lipid profile. Therefore, the study of lipid metabolism is a great tool for a better understanding of the body's response to viral infection, for the discovery of possible biomarkers and the development of new therapeutic strategies. Thus, the present study aims to use lipid analysis of blood plasma samples from hospitalized patients with COVID-19, using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to perform a temporal analysis of lipid variation and understand the progression of the disease in these individuals. In addition, based on information about the history of comorbidities of patients and their degree of severity during the period of hospitalization, a more complete analysis of the results to be obtained may be possible. With this, it is expected that the results will provide more information about the role of lipids in the pathogenesis and progression of COVID-19, contributing to the identification of new therapeutic targets for monitoring, treatment, and prognosis of the disease. (AU)