Journal Information
Journal ID (publisher-id): BM
Journal ID (nlm-ta): Biochem Med (Zagreb)
Title: Biochemia Medica
Abbreviated Title: Biochem. Med. (Zagreb)
ISSN (print): 1330-0962
ISSN (electronic): 1846-7482
Publisher: Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine
Article Information
Copyright statement: ©Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine.
Copyright: 2022, Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry
License (open-access):
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Date received: 28 April 2021
Date accepted: 11 February 2022
Publication date (electronic): 15 April 2022
Publication date (print): 15 June 2022
Volume: 32
Issue: 2
Electronic Location Identifier: 020901
Publisher ID: bm-32-2-020901
DOI: 10.11613/BM.2022.020901
Long pentraxin 3 as a marker of COVID-19 severity: evidences and perspectives
Silvia Accordino[2]
Ciro Canetta[2]
Elisabetta Buscarini[3]
Alessandro Scartabellati[4]
Chiara Tolassi[1]
Federico Serana[5]
[1] Clinical Investigation Laboratory, Ospedale Maggiore di Crema, Crema, Italy
[2] High Care Internal Medicine Unit, fondazione IRCCS Ca’Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico Milano, Milano, Italy
[3] Gastroenterology Unit, Ospedale Maggiore di Crema, Crema, Italy
[4] Pneumology 1 Unit, Ospedale Maggiore di Crema, Crema, Italy
[5] Clinical Chemistry Laboratory, Spedali Civili of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
Author notes:
[*] Corresponding author: roberto.assandri@asst-crema.it
Introduction
Several laboratory tests are characteristically altered in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), but are not totally accurate in predicting the disease outcome. The long pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is quickly released directly at inflammation sites by many immune cell types. Previous studies have shown that PTX3 correlated with disease severity in various inflammatory conditions. Our study investigated the use of PTX3 as a potential marker of COVID-19 severity and compared its performance in detecting a more severe form of the disease with that of routine laboratory parameters.
Materials and methods
Stored serum samples of RT-PCR confirmed COVID-19 cases that had been obtained at hospital admission were retrospectively analysed. Intensive care unit (ICU) stay was considered a surrogate endpoint of severe COVID-19. Pentraxin 3 was measured by a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results
A total of 96 patients were recruited from May 1st, 2020 to June 30th, 2020; 75/96 were transferred to ICU. Pentraxin 3 was higher in ICU vs non-ICU patients (35.86 vs 10.61 ng/mL, P < 0.001). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models demonstrated that the only significant laboratory predictor of ICU stay was PTX3 (OR: 1.68 (1.19-2.29), P = 0.003), after controlling for comorbidities. The Receiver Operator Characteristic curve analysis showed that PTX3 had a higher accuracy compared to C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LD), ferritin in identifying ICU patients (AUC of PTX3 = 0.98; CRP = 0.66; LD = 0.70; ferritin = 0.67, P < 0.001). A cut-off of PTX3 > 18 ng/mL yielded a sensitivity of 96% and a specificity of 100% in identifying patients requiring ICU.
Keywords: COVID-19; inflammation; biomarkers; intensive care units
