Abstract
Objective: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is still spreading worldwide, which may progress to pulmonary fibrosis (PF), leading to the worsen outcome. As the markers of lung injury, the correlation of Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) and fibronectin (Fn) with pulmonary fibrosis in COVID-19 was still unclear.
Methods: 113 patients diagnosed as COVID-19 were enrolled in this retrospective study, and divided into three categories as mild, moderate and severe cases. The concentrations of serum KL-6 and Fn at hospital admission were tested using the method of latex agglutination assay and immunoturbidimetic assay, respectively.
Results: Compared with that in the non-severe COVID-19 cases and normal control subjects, serum KL-6 concentration on admission was significantly higher in the severe group, which was positively correlated with C-reactive protein, and negatively correlated with lymphocytes count. Whereas, no obvious elevation in serum Fn concentration was investigated in COVID-19 patients with the different phenotypes. The severe cases displayed the higher incident rate of pulmonary fibrosis at hospital discharge. Compared with non-PF patients, the COVID-19 cases with PF had the higher serum KL-6 values.
Conclusion: Serum KL-6 concentration was significantly elevated in severe COVID-19 patients, which may be useful for evaluating the disease severity. For early prevention of the development of pulmonary fibrosis, high concentrations of serum KL-6 in the early stage of COVID-19 should be paid close attention.
Keywords: Coronavirus Disease 2019; Fibronectin; Krebs von den Lungen-6; Pulmonary fibrosis; SARS-CoV-2.
【저자키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, Coronavirus disease 2019, pulmonary fibrosis, Krebs von den Lungen-6, Fibronectin, 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, Coronavirus disease 2019, coronavirus, Lymphocytes, severity, disease severity, pulmonary fibrosis, fibrosis, C-reactive protein, Lung injury, outcome, pulmonary, Fibronectin, Retrospective study, lymphocyte, serum, severe cases, Mild, Hospital admission, respiratory, correlation, Admission, moderate, early stage, patients, marker, Concentration, COVID-19 cases, COVID-19 patient, on admission, Phenotypes, acute respiratory syndrome, control subjects, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, COVID-19 case, severe group, hospital discharge, severe COVID-19 patients, Severe case, 113 patients, enrolled, tested, caused, significantly, investigated, diagnosed, the disease, elevated, correlated, significantly higher, category, 113 patient, positively correlated, 【제목키워드】 Coronavirus disease 2019,