Evaluation of various blood biomarkers associated with the outcomes of patients with COVID-19 treated in intensive care units

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and the resulting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) represented a global public health crisis and the most significant pandemic in modern times. Transmission characteristics, and the lack of effective antiviral treatment protocol and protective vaccines, pushed healthcare systems, particularly intensive care units (ICUs), to their limits and led to extreme quarantine measures to control the pandemic. It was evident from an early stage that patient stratification approaches needed to be developed to better predict disease progression. In the present study, the predictive value of clinical and blood biomarkers for the outcomes of patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in the ICU were investigated, taking age and sex into consideration. The present study analyzed blood samples from 3,050 patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in the ICU. The analysis revealed that the levels of procalcitonin, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, D-dimer, ferritin, liver enzymes, C-reactive protein and lactate dehydrogenase were increased and were associated with disease progression, resulting in a prolonged hospitalization period and severe COVID-19 related complications. Additionally, significant age and sex disparities among these biomarkers were documented and discussed in specific cases. On the whole, the results of the present study suggest a potential association of the demographic characteristics and blood biomarkers with prolonged hospitalization in the ICU and the mortality of patients with COVID-19.