Credit: Journal of Proteome Research (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.5c00062

New research indicates that children infected with COVID-19 may face increased cardiovascular disease risks indicated by blood plasma metabolic changes.

Scientists from Harvard University and the Australian National Phenome Center (Murdoch University) analyzed blood samples from 147 children across different COVID-19 conditions and identified significant metabolic disruptions beyond the acute viral infection phase. These alterations affect how the body processes fats (triglycerides and cholesterol) critical to healthy heart structure.

The study is published in the Journal of Proteome Research.

Children are largely thought to be less susceptible to COVID-19's serious lung effects than adults. However, COVID-19 causes heart damage in some adults, and this study shows evidence that children with COVID-19 and MIS-C (Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children) showed major shifts in blood metabolic patterns, some of which include shifts in cardiovascular disease risk markers.

MIS-C affects multiple organ systems and may cause considerable cardiac damage, including myocardial and vascular changes. Here similarities were found between the molecular signatures of MIS-C and COVID19 in children, with the MIS-C patients being more severely affected.

"This research challenges the widespread assumption that children are largely unaffected by COVID-19 based on the relatively mild respiratory effects. However, a minority of children experience a more severe immunologically driven form of the disease (MIS-C) that is associated with longer-term GI effects and cardiovascular disease, " said lead researcher Professor Jeremy Nicholson, Director of The Australian National Phenome Center.

"We now need to do more research into the possible longer-term effects of COVID-19 in children, " said Professor Julien Wist a study co-author.

With more than 750 million cases of COVID-19 reported worldwide (excluding China), and new variants rapidly spreading, understanding both the acute and long-term impact of SARS-CoV-2 infections is urgent.

More information: Nathan G. Lawler et al, Children with Post COVID-19 Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome Display Unique Pathophysiological Metabolic Phenotypes, Journal of Proteome Research (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.5c00062  Journal information: Journal of Proteome Research