Volume 12 Issue 3
Longitudinal Evaluation of Renal Function in Patients with Acquired Solitary Kidney—Urological Perspectives Post-Nephrectomy
Marius Ivănuță,Dragoș Puia,Diana Carmen Cimpoeșu,Ana-Maria Ivănuță,Ovidiu Daniel Bîcă andCătălin Pricop
1Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science at University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital, Liverpool, UK
2Department of Emergency Medical Services, College of Nursing & Health Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan 45142, Saudi Arabia
3Department of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine, Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZX, UK
These authors contributed equally to this work as joint senior authors.
Abstract
Background/Objective: The aim of our study is to comprehensively assess the diagnostic usefulness of serum hyaluronic acid (HA) determination in COVID-19 patients. Methods: The study group included 87 patients with COVID-19 disease and 45 healthy subjects. The HA concentration was measured using the immunochemical method. Results: The serum HA concentration was significantly higher in the COVID-19 patients before admission to hospital than that in the controls (p < 0.001). Differences were found in HA levels between the groups categorized according to disease severity (p = 002), being significantly higher in patients with critical as compared to moderate disease severity (p < 0.001). The HA concentration varied depending on the type of oxygen therapy (p = 0.004). It was significantly higher in patients on a ventilator than in those without oxygen therapy (p = 0.002). In patients who qualified for the steroid treatment and immunotherapy, the HA levels were significantly higher compared to those who did not qualify for such therapies (p = 0.043, p = 0.049, respectively). The HA levels were significantly higher in patients with cytokine storm compared to those without it (p < 0.001) and were significantly more elevated in non-survivors than in survivors (p < 0.001). HA had an excellent diagnostic power (AUC = 0.994) with sensitivity (83.3%) and specificity (97.8%) in identifying patients with critical disease severity and an excellent diagnostic power (AUC = 0.932) with sensitivity (88.2%) and specificity (95.6%) in identifying non-surviving patients. Conclusions: In summary, the results of our study indicate that HA is closely associated with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection and could be used as a novel serum biomarker to predict the risk of disease progression and as a predictor of COVID-19 mortality.
Keywords: serum hyaluronic acid; COVID-19 patient