Growth hormone level in COVID-19 patients

Emine Kartal Baykan; Ahmed Ramiz Baykan; Mustafa Utlu; Emre Deve; Faruk Yildiz; Canan Birdal; Yilmaz Ozdemir; Mehtap Hulya Aslan; Konca Altinkaynak

doi:10.14744/nci.2021.90094

Growth hormone level in COVID-19 patients

North Clin Istanb. 2022 Oct 26;9(5):470-475. doi: 10.14744/nci.2021.90094. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Emine Kartal Baykan¹, Ahmed Ramiz Baykan², Mustafa Utlu³, Emre Deve³, Faruk Yildiz³, Canan Birdal³, Yilmaz Ozdemir⁴, Mehtap Hulya Aslan⁵, Konca Altinkaynak⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Erzurum Regional Training and Research Hospital, Erzurum, Turkiye.
² Department of Gastroenterology, Erzurum Regional Training and Research Hospital, Erzurum, Turkiye.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, Erzurum Regional Training and Research Hospital, Erzurum, Turkiye.
⁴ Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Erzurum Regional Training and Research Hospital, Erzurum, Turkiye.
⁵ Department of Infectious Diseases, Erzurum Regional Training and Research Hospital, Erzurum, Turkiye.
⁶ Departman of Biochemistry, Erzurum Regional Training and Research Hospital, Erzurum, Turkiye.

Abstract

Objective: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) disease can cause asymptomatic and mild flu-like symptoms as well as severe symptoms ranging from respiratory failure and death. Growth hormone (GH) is produced in the anterior pituitary and plays an important role in the immune system. COVID-19 is severe in the elderly, men, obese, diabetics, and people with immune deficiency. The probability of GH deficiency is high in these patient groups. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between the severity of COVID-19 infection and GH level.

Methods: A total of 456 patients, between 45 and 80-years-old, who were hospitalized with the diagnosis of COVID-19 disease were evaluated in the study. Our study was a retrospective study. Demographic data of the patients, GH, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-1), and biochemical parameters and thorax tomography results were evaluated. Patients with chronic diseases that would affect GH levels and those in need of intensive care were excluded from the study.

Results: 456 patients were included in the study, 168 female, 288 male, mean age 67.57±12.60 years. Patients were divided into two groups according to thorax tomography findings, patients with lung involvement in Group-1:352 (77%) and those without pulmonary involvement in Group-2:104 (23%). While the GH of Group-1 was 0.125 ng/ml, the GH of Group-2 was 0.238 ng/ml, the difference between them was statistically significant (p=0.000). IGF-1 in Group-1 was: 55.05 ng/ml, while IGF-1 in Group-2 was: 104.08 ng/ml, the difference between them was statistically significant (p=0.000). In multivariate regression analysis, low IGF-1 (p=<0,01, OR:1,06 [1028-1093]) level was found to be significantly effective in lung involvement in COVID-19 disease.

Conclusion: In our study, we found GH and IGF-1 deficiency in COVID-19 cases with lung involvement, regardless of age and gender. We can say that COVID-19 infection progresses worse in GH and IGF-1 deficiency.

Keywords: COVID-19; IGF-1; growth hormone; lung involvement.