Cellular Inflammatory Indices in Hospitalized Nigerian COVID-19 Patients

Abstract

The pandemicity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) necessitated its novel biomarkers in prognosis and monitoring in low resource settings. Changes in total white blood cell counts have been associated with the progression of diseases. This study determined the prognostic value of some cellular inflammatory cells and their indices in relation to duration of hospital admission, gender, and age of COVID-19 patients. This longitudinal and case–control study determined blood cell components (total white blood cells (TWBC), neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, and platelet) and inflammatory indices (neutrophil lymphocyte ratio [NLR], lymphocyte monocyte ratio [LMR], platelet lymphocyte ratio [PLR], derived NLR [DNLR], and systemic immune inflammatory index [SII]) in 95 symptomatic hospitalized COVID-19 patients and 45 COVID-19 free controls. These parameters were related to age, sex, and days of admission of the patients. Blood samples obtained were analyzed using hematological autoanalyzer (Sysmex XN-450) and indices calculated. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS Inc., USA) version 20.0. The mean platelet count (P = 0.016) and PLR (P = 0.000) were significantly lower while TWBC counts (P = 0.013) were significantly increased in COVID-19 patients compared with control. The mean TWBC count (P = 0.030) and SII (P = 0.029) were significantly increased while lymphocyte count (P = 0.015) and LMR (P = 0.026) were significantly decreased in COVID-19 patients at discharge compared with COVID-19 patients at admission. The mean neutrophil count (P = 0.048), PLR (P = 0.015), and SII (P = 0.022) were significantly lower while mean lymphocyte count (P = 0.026) was significantly higher in COVID-19 patients aged <40 years compared with patients aged ?40 years. This study concluded that inflammatory response is a phenomenon in COVID-19 patients especially in patients ?40 years of age and that this inflammation persist till discharge, though gender has no influence on cellular inflammatory indices of COVID-19 patients.