ABSTRACT
The present study aimed to identify useful biomarkers to predict deterioration in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19). A total of 201 COVID19 patients were classified according to their disease severity into nonsevere (n=125) and severe (n=76) groups, and the behavior of laboratory biomarkers was examined according to the prognosis. Neutrophil count, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), Creactive protein (CRP), sialylated carbohydrate antigen KL6 (KL6), procalcitonin (PCT), presepsin (PSP) and Ddimer levels were significantly higher, and lymphocyte count and platelet count were significantly lower in the nonsevere group compared with the severe group. In the nonsevere group, ROC analysis demonstrated that only four biomarkers, CRP, PSP, AST and LDH were useful for differentiating the prognosis between improvement and deterioration subgroups. No strong correlation was revealed for any of the markers. Multivariate analysis identified CRP as a significant prognostic factor in nonsevere cases (odds ratio, 41.45; 95% confidence interval, 4.91349.24; P<0.001). However, there were no blood biomarkers that could predict the outcome of patients in the severe group. Overall, several blood markers changed significantly according to disease severity in the course of COVID19 infection. Among them, CRP, PSP, LDH and AST were the most reliable markers for predicting the patient's prognosis in nonsevere COVID19 cases.