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. 2020 Nov:510:105-110.
doi: 10.1016/j.cca.2020.07.015. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

Declined serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol is associated with the severity of COVID-19 infection

Xingzhong Hu  1 , Dong Chen  1 , Lianpeng Wu  1 , Guiqing He  1 , Wei Ye  2
Affiliations

Declined serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol is associated with the severity of COVID-19 infection

Xingzhong Hu et al. Clin Chim Acta. 2020 Nov.

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 infection is epidemic worldwide. We describe the serum lipid profile of the patients with COVID-19 infection.

Methods: In this retrospective study, we collected the first clinical laboratory data of 114 patients on admission, and 80 healthy controls. Meanwhile, we monitored the serum lipid profile, COVID-19 nucleic acid and chest CT scan of a severe patient from the early stage of infection to the recovery period for a total of 80 days.

Results: Compared with the healthy controls, the patients had sharply decreased concentrations of total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol (P < 0.001). Among the patients, HDL-cholesterol concentration in severe groups was significantly lower than the common groups [1.01 (0.88-1.20) vs 1.21 (1.02-1.48) mmol/l, P < 0.001]. The lipid profile of a severe patient showed that serum cholesterol concentration significantly decreased in the early stage and returned to be normal in the recovery period. Moreover, the change of HDL-cholesterol in this patient was consistent with the results of nucleic acid tests and chest CT scans. In correlation analysis, HDL-cholesterol concentration was negatively correlated with C-reactive protein (CRP, r = -0.396, P < 0.001) and positively correlated with lymphocytes (r = 0.336, P < 0.001). The area under curve (AUC) in receiver operating characteristic (ROC) of HDL-cholesterol was 0.732 (P < 0.001), and, the adjusted odd ratio (OR) of HDL-cholesterol was 0.023 (95% CI 0.002-0.227).

Conclusions: Decreased serum HDL-cholesterol is associated with the severity of COVID-19 infection.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cholesterol; HDL; Lipid.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Correlation analysis of HDL with CRP and Lymphocytes. A: Correlation curve of HDL-cholesterol and CRP; B: Correlation curve of HDL-cholesterol and lymphocyte counts.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Laboratory indicators continuously monitored in a severe patient. A-D: Serum lipid profile from day 1 to day 80; E: Blood lymphocyte counts from day1 to day 80; F: Serum CRP from day 1 to day 80.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
COVID-19 nucleic acid test and chest CT scans of the severe patient. A: COVID-19 nucleic acid test results from day 1 to day 16, “1” means positive result, “−1” means negative result in PCR.; B: Chest CT scans of the severe patient from day 1 to day 45.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
ROC curves of serum HDL-cholesterol in prediction of severe COVID-19 infection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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