Neopterin Predicts Disease Severity in Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19

Rosa Bellmann-Weiler; Lukas Lanser; Francesco Burkert; Stefanie Seiwald; Gernot Fritsche; Sophie Wildner; Andrea Schroll; Sabine Koppelstätter; Katharina Kurz; Andrea Griesmacher; Günter Weiss

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofaa521

Neopterin Predicts Disease Severity in Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2020 Nov 3;8(1):ofaa521. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofaa521. eCollection 2021 Jan.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine II, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria.
² Central Institute for Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnosis, Innsbruck University Hospital, Innsbruck, Austria.

Abstract

This study evaluates the predictive value of circulating inflammatory markers, especially neopterin, in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Within this retrospective analysis of 115 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, elevated neopterin levels upon admission were significantly associated with disease severity, risk for intensive care unit admission, need for mechanical ventilation, and death. Therefore, neopterin is a reliable predictive marker in patients with COVID-19 and may help to improve the clinical management of patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; disease severity; neopterin; outcome.