Abstract
Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) has affected over 200 million individuals worldwide, and finding a treatment to control and eradicate the disease is considered a critical issue. Different drugs and therapies have been used since the beginning of the pandemic; however, effective infection control has not been achieved. Convalescent plasma (CP) that contains immune factors (neutralizing antibodies and inflammatory) can be an effective way to treat some infections, as it was previously used to control the pandemic. Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the effect of CP infusion on some clinical indicators of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: This study investigated the effects of CP treatment on some clinical factors, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and D-dimer among 125 patients in two groups, including a CP-treated group and a non-treated control group, in Ali-Asghar Hospital of Shiraz, Iran. Results: Mortality rate analysis between CP-treated and control groups showed a 31% reduction (53% and 84% mortality in CP-treated and non-treated control groups, respectively). In addition, the clinical factor analysis of CP-treated patients showed a significant change in D-dimer on the seventh day (P = 0.036) and oxygen saturation (SpO2) (P = 0.00), lymphocyte count (P = 0.00), platelet (P = 0.005), and ESR (P = 0.007) between the first and fourth days of treatment. Moreover, CP-treated patients were separated into two age groups. It was observed that on the fourth day, the rate of SpO2 and lymphocyte count were significantly different in patients under 50 years compared to patients ≥ 50 years (P = 0.004 and P = 0.011, respectively); a similar finding was shown for lymphocyte count on the seventh day after CP infusion (P = 0.012). The results also revealed a significant difference between males and females in lymphocyte count after CP treatment on the fourth and seventh days (P = 0.006 and P = 0.042, respectively). Conclusions: The results demonstrated the potential impact of CP infusion on the laboratory data of COVID-19-infected patients. Accordingly, this method could have a practical effect on reducing and even suppressing inflammation, infection, and mortality rate among these patients. However, further studies are needed to obtain more accurate results.