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Observational Study
. 2021 Sep 7;11(1):17791.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-96983-4.

Uric acid as a prognostic factor and critical marker of COVID-19

Gang Li #  1   2 , Xia Wu #  3 , Chen-Liang Zhou #  4 , Ye-Ming Wang #  5 , Bin Song #  6 , Xiao-Bin Cheng  7 , Qiu-Fen Dong  7 , Liu-Lin Wang  7 , Sha-Sha You  5 , Yuan-Ming Ba  8
Affiliations
Observational Study

Uric acid as a prognostic factor and critical marker of COVID-19

Gang Li et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore whether uric acid (UA) can independently act as a prognostic factor and critical marker of the 2019 novel corona virus disease (COVID-19). A multicenter, retrospective, and observational study including 540 patients with confirmed COVID-19 was carried out at four designated hospitals in Wuhan. Demographic, clinical, laboratory data were collected and analyzed. The primary end point was in-hospital death of patients with COVID-19. The concentration of admission UA (adUA) and the lowest concentration of uric acid during hospitalization (lowUA) in the dead patients were significantly lower than those in the survivors. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed the concentration of lowUA (OR 0.986, 95% CI 0.980-0.992, p < 0.001) was able to independently predict the risk of in-hospital death. The mean survival time in the low-level group of lowUA was significantly lower than other groups. When lowUA was ≤ 166 µmol/L, the sensitivity and specificity in predicting hospital short-term mortality were 76.9%, (95% CI 68.5-85.1%) and 74.9% (95% CI 70.3-78.9%). This retrospective study determined that the lowest concentration of UA during hospitalization can be used as a prognostic indicator and a marker of disease severity in severe patients with COVID-19.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chest CT images of COVID-19 patients and stacked trend chart of blood UA levels and PaO2/FiO2. (A) and (B) a 60 year old survivor’s CT images and stacked trend chart, the time point of the CT taken was the first day of admission (17th Jan, 2020); (C) and (D) a 51 year old non-survivor’s CT images and stacked trend chart, the time point of the CT taken was the first day of admission (15th Jan, 2020).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Kaplan–Meier curves stratified according to the lowest and admission UA level. Log-rank testing revealed a significant decrease between tertiles 1 group with other two groups (A). The mean survival time of the normal group was significantly higher than that in the low and high groups (B).
Figure 3
Figure 3
ROC curves showed the prognostic value of lowUA and adALC in predicting in-hospital mortality.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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