Clinical value of immune-inflammatory parameters to assess the severity of coronavirus disease 2019

Abstract

Objective: To explore the clinical value of immune-inflammatory markers to assess the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods: 127 consecutive hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 were enrolled in this study, and classified into non-severe and severe groups. Demographics, symptoms, underlying diseases and laboratory data were collected and assessed for predictive value.

Results: Of 127 COVID-19 patients, 16 cases (12.60%) were classified into the severe group. High level of interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reaction protein (CRP) and hypertension were independent risk factors for the severity of COVID-19. The risk model based on IL-6, CRP and hypertension had the highest area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUROC). Additionally, the baseline IL-6 was positively correlated with other immune-inflammatory parameters and the dynamic change of IL-6 in the severe cases were parallel to the amelioration of the disease.

Conclusion: Our study showed that high level of IL-6, CRP and hypertension were independent risk factors for assessing the severity of COVID-19. The risk model established upon IL-6, CRP and hypertension had the highest predictability in this study. Besides, IL-6 played a pivotal role in the severity of COVID-19 and had a potential value for monitoring the process of severe cases.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cytokine storm; IL-6; Immune-inflammatory parameters; SARS-CoV-2.