Breakthrough research may provide a key piece of the COVID-19 puzzle that answers why patients sickened with the disease often suffer from life-threatening blood clots. According to their studies, the virus causes inflammation in the blood platelets, which contributes to clotting in some patients.

According to Fox News, scientists from University of Utah Health found that inflammatory proteins produced during infection made the platelets “hyperactive.”

“Our finding adds an important piece to the jigsaw puzzle that we call COVID-19,” said Dr. Robert A. Campbell, senior author of the study. “We found that inflammation and systemic changes, due to the infection, are influencing how platelets function, leading them to aggregate faster, which could explain why we are seeing increased numbers of blood clots in COVID patients.”

The researchers discovered that the virus causes genetic changes in the platelets that also alters their interaction with the immune system and may be the reason COVID-19 patients often suffer from severe lung damage, according to Fox News.

“There are genetic processes that we can target that would prevent platelets from being changed,” said Campbell, adding that if scientists can discover how the virus makes these changes, they may be able to block the process and reduce the risk of blood clots.

Doctors worldwide have been puzzled by the way SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, causes the blood to clot in very ill patients. According to WebMD, when they draw blood from these patients, it even clots in the test tubes.

“Patients are making clots all over the place,” said Adam Cuker, M.D., a hematologist and associate professor of medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. “That’s making the management of these patients very challenging.”

The Utah researchers hope that their findings, published in Blood, an American Society of Hematology journal, will help shed light on the dire situation and lead to more effective treatment for COVID-19 patients.