Metabolic Profile of Patients with Long COVID: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

A significant proportion of patients experience a wide range of symptoms following acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Laboratory analyses of long COVID have demonstrated imbalances in metabolic parameters, suggesting that it is one of the many outcomes induced by long COVID. Therefore, this study aimed to illustrate the clinical and laboratory markers related to the course of the disease in patients with long COVID. Participants were selected using a clinical care programme for long COVID in the Amazon region. Clinical and sociodemographic data and glycaemic, lipid, and inflammatory screening markers were collected, and cross-sectionally analysed between the long COVID-19 outcome groups. Of the 215 participants, most were female and not elderly, and 78 were hospitalised during the acute COVID-19 phase. The main long COVID symptoms reported were fatigue, dyspnoea, and muscle weakness. Our main findings show that abnormal metabolic profiles (such as high body mass index measurement and high triglyceride, glycated haemoglobin A1c, and ferritin levels) are more prevalent in worse long COVID presentations (such as previous hospitalisation and more long-term symptoms). This prevalence may suggest a propensity for patients with long COVID to present abnormalities in the markers involved in cardiometabolic health.