Association between serum inflammatory parameters and the disease severity in COVID-19 patients.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

Most patients infected with the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), as the causative agent of COVID-19 disease, show mild symptoms, but some of them develop severe illness. The purpose of this study was to analyze the blood markers of COVID-19 patients and to investigate the correlation between serum inflammatory cytokines and the disease severity.

METHODS:

In this prospective cross-sectional study, 50 patients with COVID-19 and 20 patients without COVID-19 were enrolled. According to ICU admission criteria, patients were divided into two groups of non-severe and severe. Differences in the serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-6, and TNF-α, as well as erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), lymphocytes (LYM) count, and neutrophils (NEU) count between the two groups were determined and analyzed.

RESULTS:

Out of the 50 patients with COVID-19, 14 were diagnosed as severe cases. There was no significant difference between the two groups of COVID-19 patients in terms of gender and age. Blood tests of COVID-19 patients showed a significant decrease and increase in NEU and LYM counts, respectively. There were significant differences in the serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and CRP between the severe and non-severe groups, which were higher in the severe group. Also, there was a significant correlation between the disease severity and CRP with ESR (r = 0.79), CRP with IL-6 (r = 0.74), LYM with NEU (r = -0.97), and ESR with TNF-α (r = 0.7).

CONCLUSION:

The findings of this study, as the first study in Iran, suggest that the levels of IL-6, TNF-α, ESR, and CRP could be used to predict the severity of COVID-19 disease.

• Authors: Rajab Mardani, Mehrnoush Namavar, Elham Ghorbi, Zabihollah Shoja, Fatemeh Zali, Hooman Kaghazian, Mohammad Reza Aghasadeghi, Seyed Amir Sadeghi, Shahram Sabeti, Ilad Alavi Darazam, Nayebali Ahmadi, Seyed Dawood Mousavi-Nasab
• Journal: Journal of clinical laboratory analysis (J Clin Lab Anal) Vol. 36 Issue 1 Pg. e24162 (Jan 2022) ISSN: 1098-2825 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 34874079 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Chemical References

• Biomarkers
• IL6 protein, human
• Interleukin-6
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
• C-Reactive Protein

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Biomarkers (blood)
• Blood Sedimentation
• C-Reactive Protein (analysis)
• COVID-19 (blood, etiology)
• Case-Control Studies
• Cross-Sectional Studies
• Female
• Humans
• Inflammation (blood, virology)
• Interleukin-6 (blood)
• Lymphocyte Count
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Prospective Studies
• Severity of Illness Index
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (blood)
• Young Adult