Association between Presepsin and SARS-CoV-2: A Case–Control Study

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Presepsin (PSN) is a soluble CD14 subtype that has lately been presented as a novel biomarker in patients with sepsis. The aim of the current study was to detect the relation of PSN to COVID-19 as well as its relation to other biomarkers. Materials and Methods: A total of 125 severe/critical COVID-19 patients were involved in this work as well as 60 persons enrolled as a control group. Between February 2022 and July 2022, these patients were admitted to Marjan Medical City and Al-Sadiq hospital. Patients were determined as severe cases according to the guidelines released by National Health World depending on SpO2 percentage. The inflammatory cytokine (PSN) was detected by the ELISA technique. Results: PSN revealed statistically significant differences between patients 261 pg/ml (244–324) and control groups 193 pg/ml (172–218) (P < 0.0001). Correlations between PSN and lymphocytes (LYM), as well as platelets (PLT), were nonsignificant (P > 0.05), while significant negative correlation was found between PSN and both white blood cell (WBC) (r = −0.21, P = 0.01) and granulocytes (GRA) (r = −0.25, P = 0.004). No significant differences between males 273.55 pg/ml and females 284.90 pg/ml regarding presepsin titer mean were detected (P = 0.67). Conclusion: This work adds to the mounting evidence that pro-inflammatory cytokines directly influence COVID-19 progression. The management of a cytokine storm that affects COVID-19 patients and is mostly brought on by pro-inflammatory cytokines may depend on the early detection and treatment of PSN.