Increased sTREM-1 plasma concentrations are associated with poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19.

Abstract

Patients with sepsis display increased concentrations of sTREM-1 (soluble Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid cells 1), and a phase II clinical trial focusing on TREM-1 modulation is ongoing. We investigated whether sTREM-1 circulating concentrations are associated with the outcome of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to assess the role of this pathway in COVID-19. This observational study was performed in two independent cohorts of patients with COVID-19. Plasma concentrations of sTREM-1 were assessed after ICU admission (pilot cohort) or after COVID-19 diagnosis (validation cohort). Routine laboratory and clinical parameters were collected from electronic patient files. Results showed sTREM-1 plasma concentrations were significantly elevated in patients with COVID-19 (161 [129-196] pg/ml) compared to healthy controls (104 [75-124] pg/ml; P<0.001). Patients with severe COVID-19 needing ICU admission displayed even higher sTREM-1 concentrations compared to less severely ill COVID-19 patients receiving clinical ward-based care (235 [176-319] pg/ml and 195 [139-283] pg/ml, respectively, P = 0.017). In addition, higher sTREM-1 plasma concentrations were observed in patients who did not survive the infection (326 [207-445] pg/ml) compared to survivors (199 [142-278] pg/ml, P<0.001). Survival analyses indicated that patients with higher sTREM-1 concentrations are at higher risk for death (hazard ratio = 3.3, 95%CI: 1.4-7.8). In conclusion, plasma sTREM-1 concentrations are elevated in patients with COVID-19, relate to disease severity, and discriminate between survivors and non-survivors. This suggests that the TREM-1 pathway is involved in the inflammatory reaction and the disease course of COVID-19, and therefore may be considered as a therapeutic target in severely ill patients with COVID-19.

• Authors: Aline H de Nooijer, Inge Grondman, Simon Lambden, Emma J Kooistra, Nico A F Janssen, Matthijs Kox, Peter Pickkers, Leo A B Joosten, Frank L van de Veerdonk, Marc Derive, Sebastien Gibot, Mihai G Netea, RCI-COVID-19 study group
• Journal: Bioscience reports (Biosci Rep) Vol. 41 Issue 7 (07 30 2021) ISSN: 1573-4935 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 34195785 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Observational Study)
• Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s).

Chemical References

• Biomarkers
• TREM1 protein, human
• Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells-1

Topics

• Aged
• Biomarkers (blood)
• COVID-19 (blood, diagnosis, mortality, virology)
• Case-Control Studies
• Female
• Healthy Volunteers
• Hospital Mortality
• Humans
• Intensive Care Units (statistics & numerical data)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Retrospective Studies
• Risk Assessment (methods)
• SARS-CoV-2 (isolation & purification)
• Severity of Illness Index
• Survival Analysis
• Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells-1 (blood)