Diagnosis of Coronavirus disease by measuring serum concentrations of IL-6 and blood Ferritin

Abstract

Objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) associated by infection and high death rate. The unresolved questions about the fatality rate of COVID-19 is most probably related to cytokine storm syndrome. There is currently no specific medication. Understanding the pathogenic pathway of this disease will lead to production of treatment and decreases of death rate. The aim of this study is to investigate changes of peripheral blood parameters (Interleukin-6 and Ferritin) in COVID-19 patients, which may be beneficial in the management of patients.Methods: In this case-control study, we collected data of 270 subjects in two groups including 133 patients with severe type COVID-19 (case) and 137 patients with nonsevere (control) between March 20 and May 21, 2020, and the clinical symptoms and inflammatory indications of patients diagnosed by laboratory test in Shahid Jalil hospital of Yasuj University of medical Sciences were collected to explore potential markers for disease monitoring. The data were analyzed by SPSS software version 20. Descriptive statistics, T-test and bivariate correlation tests were used to analyze. Results: The enrolled COVID-19 patients consisted of 53.4% males and 46.6% females with the medium age of 45.56±18.55 years and there were 50.04% males and 49.6% females with the medium age of 45.59±17.0 years for non COVID-19 patients. There was no significant difference in the age and sex ratio between two population under study. The proportion interstitial abnormalities evidenced by CT imaging in COVID-19 patients was 91.0%, while, 4.4% abnormalities was found in non COVID-19 patients. The frequency of positive RT-PCR test for case and control groups were 88.0% and 3.6%, respectively. The mean IL-6 and Ferritin levels and hematological parameters in two groups of patients with COVID-19 and non- COVID-19, were significantly different across all comparisons.There was a direct positively correlated between serum level of IL-6, Ferritin levels and hematological parameters including WBC, Lymphocytes, Neutrophils and Hb, except for platelets (negatively correlate), with COVID-19. Conclusions: In conclusion, inflammatory markers specifically IL-6 and Ferritin and hematological parameters (WBC, Lymphocytes, Neutrophils, Platelet and Hb) were correlated with the severity of COVID-19. Measurement of IL-6, Ferritin and hematological indices might be workable tests to diagnosis and prognosis of patients with COVID-19.

Cell Population Data and Serum Polyclonal Immunoglobulin Free Light Chains in the Assessment of COVID-19 Severity

“…However, the study performed on our patients indicates significantly higher concentrations of ferritin and IL-6 in patients with COVID-19 requiring intensive care comparing with those hospitalized in non-ICU departments. With our results, we confirm observations made by other groups showing that IL-6 allows distinguishing between severe and nonsevere COVID-19 [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ].…”

“…On the other hand, the concentration of IL-6 above 24 pg/mL indicated the development of hypoxemia with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 88.9% [ 38 ]. Parviz et al found that the level of IL-6, the level of ferritin, and hematological parameters including WBC and the number of lymphocytes and neutrophils had a direct positive correlation with the concentration of hemoglobin [ 39 ]. Our observations are in line with their results.…”