Hypoalbuminemia in patients following their recovery from severe coronavirus disease 2019

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by a contagious virus that has spread to more than 200 countries, territories, and regions. Thousands of studies to date have examined all aspects of this disease, yet little is known about the postrecovery status of patients, especially in the long term. Here, we examined erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and serum albumin biomarkers in patients with a history of severe and mild-to-moderate COVID-19 following their recovery. In patients with severe COVID-19 serum albumin had a strong negative correlation with both ESR and CRP levels (R² = - 0.861 and R² = - 0.711), respectively. Also, there was a positive correlation between ESR and CRP level (R² = 0.85) in the same group. However, there was no correlation between these biomarkers among mild-to-moderate COVID-19 patients. In addition, no correlation was recorded between the severe and mild-to-moderate COVID-19 groups. This finding highlights the sustained elevation of ESR and CRP level and reduced serum albumin level that may persist postrecovery in patients with a history of severe COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; CRP; ESR; postrecovery; serum albumin.

FIGURE 1

The difference in losing bodyweight in kilograms between severe mild–moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) postrecovery group (black), and severe COVID‐19 postrecovery group (gray)