Is it possible to identify COVID-19 infection-related biomarkers during pregnancy?: A prospective study in Turkish population

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has raised concerns about the potential complications it may cause in pregnant women. Therefore, biomarkers that can predict the course of COVID-19 in pregnant women may be of great benefit as they would provide valuable insights into the prognosis and, thus, the management of the disease. In this context, the objective of this study is to identify the biomarkers that can predict COVID-19 progression in pregnant women, focusing on composite hemogram parameters and systemic inflammatory and spike markers. The population of this single-center prospective case–control study consisted of all consecutive pregnant women with single healthy fetuses who tested positive for COVID-19 and who were admitted to Bakirköy Dr Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey, a COVID-19 referral hospital, between April 2020 and March 2021, with an obstetric indication, during their second or third trimester. The control group consisted of consecutive pregnant women with a single healthy fetus who were admitted to the same hospital within the same date range, had demographic and obstetric characteristics matching the patient group, but tested negative for COVID-19. The patient and control groups were compared in terms of platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), platelet-to-neutrophil ratio (PNR), and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and systemic inflammatory and spike markers, including C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), cluster of differentiation 26 (CD26), and B7 homolog 4 (B7H4). There were 45 (51.1%) and 43 (48.8%) pregnant women in the patient and control groups, respectively. There was no significant difference between the groups in demographic and obstetric characteristics (P > .05). The PNR, PLR, and CRP values were significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group (P < .05). On the other hand, there was no significant difference between the groups in IL-6, IL-10, CD26, and B7H4 levels (P > .05). The findings of our study showed that specific inflammatory markers, such as CRP, PLR, and PNR, can potentially predict the course of COVID-19 in pregnant women. However, more comprehensive, well-controlled studies are needed to corroborate our study’s findings and investigate other potential inflammatory markers.