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. 2022 Sep 26;12(1):15999.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-20062-5.

Serum biomarkers associated with SARS-CoV-2 severity

Fabiani de Morais Batista #  1 , Marco Antonio Moreira Puga #  1 , Patricia Vieira da Silva  1 , Roberto Oliveira  2 , Paulo Cesar Pereira Dos Santos  1 , Bruna Oliveira da Silva  3 , Mariana Bento Tatara  3 , Daniel Henrique Tsuha  4 , Maria Aparecida Dos Santos Pires  5   6 , Crhistinne Cavalheiro Maymone Gonçalves  1 , Rômulo Pessoa E Silva  7 , Nathália Tavares Ferreira  7 , Amanda Pinheiro de Barros Albuquerque  7 , Giselle da Silva Duarte  8 , Márcia Edilaine Lopes Consolaro  9   10 , Fabio Juliano Negrão  5   6 , Idalina Cristina Ferrari  5 , Luciano Pamplona de Goes Cavalcanti  11   12   13 , Karen Soares Trinta  14 , Guilherme S Ribeiro  15   16 , Moacyr Jesus Barreto de Melo Rêgo  7 , Rosemary J Boyton  17   18 , André Machado Siqueira  19 , Daniel M Altmann  20 , Julio Croda  21   22
Affiliations

Serum biomarkers associated with SARS-CoV-2 severity

Fabiani de Morais Batista et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Immunity with SARS-CoV-2 infection during the acute phase is not sufficiently well understood to differentiate mild from severe cases and identify prognostic markers. We evaluated the immune response profile using a total of 71 biomarkers in sera from patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, confirmed by RT-PCR and controls. We correlated biological marker levels with negative control (C) asymptomatic (A), nonhospitalized (mild cases-M), and hospitalized (severe cases-S) groups. Among angiogenesis markers, we identified biomarkers that were more frequently elevated in severe cases when compared to the other groups (C, A, and M). Among cardiovascular diseases, there were biomarkers with differences between the groups, with D-dimer, GDF-15, and sICAM-1 higher in the S group. The levels of the biomarkers Myoglobin and P-Selectin were lower among patients in group M compared to those in groups S and A. Important differences in cytokines and chemokines according to the clinical course were identified. Severe cases presented altered levels when compared to group C. This study helps to characterize biological markers related to angiogenesis, growth factors, heart disease, and cytokine/chemokine production in individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2, offering prognostic signatures and a basis for understanding the biological factors in disease severity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Box plot representation of the serum concentration (pg/mL) of cytokines/chemokines. Levels of IL-6 (A), IL-7 (B), IL-18 (E), IP-10 (G), M-CSF (H), MDC (I), MIP-1 beta (K), PDGF-AA (L), and TNF alpha (M). The top and bottom lines of boxes are the 25th and 75th percentiles, respectively, and the band in the middle of the box is the median. analysis. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann–Whitney U test between the negative control (C), asymptomatic (A), nonhospitalized (mild cases-M), and hospitalized (severe cases-S) groups.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Box plot representation of serum concentration (pg/mL) of cardiovascular biomarkers. Levels of D-Dimer (A), GDF-15 (B), Mylglobin (C), sICAM-1 (D), MPO (E), P-Selectin (F), and Lipocalin-2/NGAL (G). The top and bottom lines of boxes are the 25th and 75th percentiles, respectively, and the band in the middle of the box is the median. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann–Whitney U test between the negative control (C), asymptomatic (A), nonhospitalized (mild cases-M), and hospitalized (severe cases-S) groups.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Box plot representation of the serum concentration (pg/mL) of angiogenesis biomarkers. Levels of EGF (A), IL-8 (B), HGF (C), HB-EGF (D), VEGF-C (E), and VEGF-A (F). The top and bottom lines of the boxes are the 25th and 75th percentiles, respectively, and the band in the middle of the box is the median. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann–Whitney U test between the negative control (C), asymptomatic (A), nonhospitalized (mild cases-M), and hospitalized (severe cases-S) groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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