Circulating pentraxin 3 in severe COVID‐19 or other pulmonary sepsis

Abstract

The plasma concentration of PTX3 was measured in 59 patients with severe COVID-19 and 59 propensity score-matched patients with other pulmonary sepsis enrolled in the ALBIOS trial. Circulating PTX3 was measured 1 ± 1 days and 7 ± 1 days after ICU admission for patients with COVID-19 or study entry, generally corresponding to the diagnosis of sepsis, for those in the ALBIOS trial. Results are presented as box plots where the boundary of the box closest to zero indicates the 25th percentile, the line within the box marks the median, and the boundary of the box farthest from zero indicates the 75th percentile. Whiskers (error bars) above and below the box indicate the 90th and 10th percentiles. In patients with and then 13 (8-18) ng/ml; in those with other pulmonary sepsis, it was 30 (16-64) and then 17 (9-28) ng/ml. P values refer to the Mann-Whitney test

Role of Senescence and Aging in SARS-CoV-2 Infection and COVID-19 Disease

“…For example, a recent study has reported that long pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is an independent strong prognostic indicator for predicting mortality in COVID-19 and is a superior biomarker compared to conventional inflammatory markers [ 117 ]. Conversely, another study disputed this finding and has suggested that PTX3 is not any more valuable than other markers and that there are more important markers of inflammatory pathways [ 118 ]. Another study has reported that Growth Differentiation Factor 15 (GDF-15) is increased in patients who are hospitalized with COVID-19 and higher levels are associated with a worse outcome.…”

Biomarkers Associated with Cardiovascular Disease in COVID-19

“…A relatively large biomarker study, including a total of 219 patients, measured PTX3 on a luminex assay-next to multiple other biomarkers-and also found a significant association with the primary endpoint of mortality regardless of whether patients were treated on a regular ward or in the intensive care unit (ICU) [58]. Since then, several smaller studies have further underlined the prognostic efficacy of PTX3 in COVID-19 [59][60][61][62].…”

SARS-CoV-2 Associated Immune Dysregulation and COVID-Associated Pulmonary Aspergilliosis (CAPA): A Cautionary Tale

“…It also works to activate the complement system against aspergillus by C3b binding, leading to alternate pathway activation. Aspergillus conidia, however, have mechanisms to evade complement activation including the masking of surface (1,3)-β-d-Glucan (BDG) and mannose by RodA, a surface hydrophobin, and through recruitment of complement inhibitors such as Aspf2 as well as the degradation of C3, C4 and C5 through protease secretion [ 46 , 47 ]. This critical role of pentraxan in preventing invasive aspergillosis is evident in pentraxan knock-out mice who were more susceptible to disease and showed clinical improvement upon its administration.…”

“…This critical role of pentraxan in preventing invasive aspergillosis is evident in pentraxan knock-out mice who were more susceptible to disease and showed clinical improvement upon its administration. Interestingly, serum pentraxan levels in ITU SARS-CoV-2 patients are unaffected versus those with sepsis from other pathogens, which may explain the heightened risk of CAPA in these patients [ 47 ]. Dendritic cells work as a link between activating the innate and adaptive immune response while also directly phagocytosing aspergillus and leading to further increase in proinflammatory cytokine release as well as an adaptive Th1-mediated response.…”