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Potentials of Varied Inflammatory Indices in the Prediction of COVID-19 Severity Among Nigerians

Received: 5 January 2022     Accepted: 20 January 2022     Published: 28 January 2022
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Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is theorized to be associated with significant inflammatory episodes. This tends to define the severity and culminates in adverse consequences of the disease. Therefore, the current study evaluated the potentials of varied inflammatory markers/indices that define the COVID-19 severity. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of pre-treatment data obtained from patients with positive real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 disease in one of the treatment centers in Port Harcourt, South-south Nigeria. Data were obtained from case notes, medical review charts, nurses’ charts, and laboratory records by trained research assistants in the treatment center using pretested data acquisition templates. Abstracted data were compared between the severe positive and severe negative subgroups and the potentials of varied inflammatory indices were evaluated among the severe positive subgroup using standard protocols. Results: A total of 600 eligible cases were studied. Among the eligible cases, 543 (90.5%) had severe negative disease, while 57 (9.5%) had severe positive disease. The severe positive COVID-19 patients had higher mean blood levels of urea, creatinine, pro-calcitonin, C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin, higher Glasgow prognostic scores (GPS), fibrinogen, D-dimer, fibrinogen-albumin ratio, total white cell count, neutrophil counts, composite neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), composite platelet to lymphocyte ratio but lower potassium, albumin, hemoglobin levels, and isolated lymphocyte and platelet counts compared to the severe positive COVID-19 subjects (p<0.05). The C-reactive protein, GPS, D-dimer, and the composite NLR ratio indices significantly predicted COVID-19 severity on the crude regression model which was maintained in the adjusted model. However, serum CRP concentrations (AUC: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.82-1.00; p<0.001) maintained a more robust predictive potential compared to the GPS (AUC: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.84-1.00; p<0.001), D-dimer levels (AUC: 0.89; 95% CI: 0.79-0.94; p=0.004), and the composite NLR (AUC: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.77-0.92). Conclusion: The current study corroborates the role of inflammation in the COVID-19 disease severity. The clinical utility of these inflammation-induced markers/indices especially the CRP, GPS, D-dimer, and the NLR should be prioritized among Nigerians during the management of the disease.

Published in Advances in Biochemistry (Volume 10, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ab.20221001.13
Page(s) 18-24
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

COVID-19, COVID-19 Severity, COVID-19 Inflammatory Markers/Indices

References
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  • APA Style

    Stephenson Lawson, Collins Amadi. (2022). Potentials of Varied Inflammatory Indices in the Prediction of COVID-19 Severity Among Nigerians. Advances in Biochemistry, 10(1), 18-24. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ab.20221001.13

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    ACS Style

    Stephenson Lawson; Collins Amadi. Potentials of Varied Inflammatory Indices in the Prediction of COVID-19 Severity Among Nigerians. Adv. Biochem. 2022, 10(1), 18-24. doi: 10.11648/j.ab.20221001.13

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    AMA Style

    Stephenson Lawson, Collins Amadi. Potentials of Varied Inflammatory Indices in the Prediction of COVID-19 Severity Among Nigerians. Adv Biochem. 2022;10(1):18-24. doi: 10.11648/j.ab.20221001.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ab.20221001.13,
      author = {Stephenson Lawson and Collins Amadi},
      title = {Potentials of Varied Inflammatory Indices in the Prediction of COVID-19 Severity Among Nigerians},
      journal = {Advances in Biochemistry},
      volume = {10},
      number = {1},
      pages = {18-24},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ab.20221001.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ab.20221001.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ab.20221001.13},
      abstract = {Background: The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is theorized to be associated with significant inflammatory episodes. This tends to define the severity and culminates in adverse consequences of the disease. Therefore, the current study evaluated the potentials of varied inflammatory markers/indices that define the COVID-19 severity. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of pre-treatment data obtained from patients with positive real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 disease in one of the treatment centers in Port Harcourt, South-south Nigeria. Data were obtained from case notes, medical review charts, nurses’ charts, and laboratory records by trained research assistants in the treatment center using pretested data acquisition templates. Abstracted data were compared between the severe positive and severe negative subgroups and the potentials of varied inflammatory indices were evaluated among the severe positive subgroup using standard protocols. Results: A total of 600 eligible cases were studied. Among the eligible cases, 543 (90.5%) had severe negative disease, while 57 (9.5%) had severe positive disease. The severe positive COVID-19 patients had higher mean blood levels of urea, creatinine, pro-calcitonin, C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin, higher Glasgow prognostic scores (GPS), fibrinogen, D-dimer, fibrinogen-albumin ratio, total white cell count, neutrophil counts, composite neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), composite platelet to lymphocyte ratio but lower potassium, albumin, hemoglobin levels, and isolated lymphocyte and platelet counts compared to the severe positive COVID-19 subjects (pConclusion: The current study corroborates the role of inflammation in the COVID-19 disease severity. The clinical utility of these inflammation-induced markers/indices especially the CRP, GPS, D-dimer, and the NLR should be prioritized among Nigerians during the management of the disease.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Potentials of Varied Inflammatory Indices in the Prediction of COVID-19 Severity Among Nigerians
    AU  - Stephenson Lawson
    AU  - Collins Amadi
    Y1  - 2022/01/28
    PY  - 2022
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ab.20221001.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ab.20221001.13
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    AB  - Background: The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is theorized to be associated with significant inflammatory episodes. This tends to define the severity and culminates in adverse consequences of the disease. Therefore, the current study evaluated the potentials of varied inflammatory markers/indices that define the COVID-19 severity. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of pre-treatment data obtained from patients with positive real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 disease in one of the treatment centers in Port Harcourt, South-south Nigeria. Data were obtained from case notes, medical review charts, nurses’ charts, and laboratory records by trained research assistants in the treatment center using pretested data acquisition templates. Abstracted data were compared between the severe positive and severe negative subgroups and the potentials of varied inflammatory indices were evaluated among the severe positive subgroup using standard protocols. Results: A total of 600 eligible cases were studied. Among the eligible cases, 543 (90.5%) had severe negative disease, while 57 (9.5%) had severe positive disease. The severe positive COVID-19 patients had higher mean blood levels of urea, creatinine, pro-calcitonin, C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin, higher Glasgow prognostic scores (GPS), fibrinogen, D-dimer, fibrinogen-albumin ratio, total white cell count, neutrophil counts, composite neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), composite platelet to lymphocyte ratio but lower potassium, albumin, hemoglobin levels, and isolated lymphocyte and platelet counts compared to the severe positive COVID-19 subjects (pConclusion: The current study corroborates the role of inflammation in the COVID-19 disease severity. The clinical utility of these inflammation-induced markers/indices especially the CRP, GPS, D-dimer, and the NLR should be prioritized among Nigerians during the management of the disease.
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Author Information
  • Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Rivers State University/Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

  • Department of Chemical Pathology, Rivers State University/Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

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