VEGF-D: a novel biomarker for detection of COVID-19 progression

Abstract

As the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) continues to spread globally, hundreds of thousands have been infected, among whom approximately 15% of COVID-19 patients develop severe disease, and 5 to 6% are critically ill [1]. Critical patients of COVID-19 have a dramatically higher case fatality rate than severe cases. Thus, it is increasingly urgent to develop early and effective predictors to distinguish critical patients from severe patients. Storms of inflammatory cytokines and blood clots were reported to associate with severe disease and fatality of COVID-19 patients [2, 3]. We aimed to identify a biomarker for the detection of COVID-19 progression from numerous cytokines and coagulation indicators. We conducted a retrospective study based on patients with a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 admitted to the intensive care unit in Beijing Ditan Hospital from January 20, 2020, to March 23, 2020. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Beijing Ditan Hospital. The severity of COVID-19 was defined according to the guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of new coronavirus pneumonia (version 7). All baseline medical record information including demographic, data, complications, and laboratory results were obtained within the first day after hospital admission. Blood samples were collected at baseline and once every 3-7 days during hospitalization. Forty-five cytokines/ chemokines/growth factors in serum were measured using Luminex multiplex assay. Random forests machine learning classifier in Python environment was used for

Microvascular dysfunction in COVID-19: the MYSTIC study

“…Among the VEGF system, VEGF-D [ 28 ], and sFLT-1 [ 29 ] have been discussed in the pathophysiology of COVID-19. Kong et al reported a positive correlation between VEGF-D: a still not fully understood member of the VEGF family – and disease severity in COVID-19 patients [ 28 ]. Surprisingly, we found a clear negative correlation between VEGF-D and SOFA score.…”

“…Surprisingly, we found a clear negative correlation between VEGF-D and SOFA score. A reason for this discrepancy could be the cross-sectional design of our study, as VEGF-D levels seem to fluctuate during hospital stay [ 28 ]. However, VEGF-A, a strong permeability-inducing factor related to disease severity and survival in sepsis [ 30 ], correlated positively with disease severity and ARDS development in our cohort.…”

The effects of novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection on cardiovascular diseases and cardiopulmonary injuries

“…It is worth mentioning that chloroquine should not be used together with moxifloxacin. The combination of macrolides and fluoroquinolones can prolong QT interval.Cytokine Storm Induced by SARS-CoV-2 and the Drug Therapy methods are shown in Table 2 [61] , [62] , [63] , [64] , [65] , [66] , [67] , [68] , [69] , [70] , [71] , [72] , [73] , [74] , [75] , [76] , [77] , [78] , [79] , [80] , [81] , [82] , [83] , [84] .…”

Immunomodulatory Therapeutic Proteins in COVID‐19: Current Clinical Development and Clinical Pharmacology Considerations

“…70 Significantly higher VEGF concentrations were observed in COVID-19 patients compared with healthy controls, and it was shown as an important indicator related to the severity of COVID-19. 71 Bevacizumab, an anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody, is being evaluated in hospitalized COVID-19 patients at the dose level consistent with the approved doses in oncology indications for bevacizumab. The kallikrein-kinin system is a zymogen system that is known to lead to the release of the nonapeptide bradykinin after activation.…”