Interferon-γ-induced protein 10 (IP-10) and serum amyloid A (SAA) are excellent biomarkers for the prediction of COVID-19 progression and severity

Aims: Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment are essential in reducing the morbidity and mortality of COVID19-infected patients. The current study aimed to measure the levels of serum IP-10 and SAA in positive COVID-19 Egyptian patients to explore their clinical values and significance in discrimination between moderate and severe COVID-19 infection and predicting the severity and prognosis of COVID-19 disease. Main methods: A total of 150 COVID-19 patients and 50 controls were enrolled into our study. Beside the routine lab work of positive COVID-19 patients; IP-10 and SAA were measured using ELISA kit. Key findings: Our results revealed that the levels of D-dimer (2.64 +/- 3.34), ferritin (494.11 +/- 260.96), SAA (171.89 +/- 51.96), IP-10 (405.0 +/- 85.27), WBCs count (14.38 +/- 6.06) and neutrophils count (79.26 +/- 5.57) were highly significantly increased in severe to critically severe patients when compared with mild to moderate patients; while lymphocytes count (14.21 +/- 5.13) was highly significantly decreased when compared to moderate patients. ROC curve analysis results showed that AUC from high to low was IP-10. SAA. Ferritin. D-dimer. CRP. Significance: From these results we can conclude that both IP-10 and SAA could be excellent biomarkers in discrimination between moderate and severe COVID-19 infection and predicting the severity and prognosis of COVID-19 disease.

Automated summary

The study found that markers such as IP-10 and SAA were significantly elevated in severe to critically severe COVID-19 patients, while lymphocyte count was significantly decreased. ROC curve analysis showed that IP-10 had better predictive ability in discriminating between infection levels.