Fetuin-A Deficiency but Not Pentraxin 3, FGF-21, or Irisin, Predisposes to More Serious COVID-19 Course

• Published in: Biomolecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 11; no. 10; p. 1422
• Main Authors: Kukla, Michał, Menżyk, Tomasz, Dembiński, Marcin, Winiarski, Marek, Garlicki, Aleksander, Bociąga-Jasik, Monika, Skonieczna, Magdalena, Hudy, Dorota, Maziarz, Barbara, Kuśnierz-Cabala, Beata, Kapusta, Maria, Skladany, Lubomir, Grgurevic, Ivica, Mikolasevic, Ivana, Filipec-Kanizaj, Tajana, Wójcik-Bugajska, Małgorzata, Grodzicki, Tomasz, Rogula, Tomasz, Stygar, Dominika
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 28.09.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Biopsy; Blood pressure; Body weight; Cardiovascular disease; Chronic illnesses; coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Diarrhea; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Enzymes; Ferritin; fetuin-A; Fever; fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF-21); Hepatitis; Hospitalization; Hypertension; Infections; Injuries; Insulin; irisin; Laboratories; Liver; Liver diseases; Males; Metabolic disorders; Metabolic syndrome; Pain; pentraxin 3 (PTX3); Pentraxins; Pneumonia; Respiratory diseases; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); Statistical analysis; Viral infections; Viruses; Vomiting
• ISSN: 2218-273X; 2218-273X
• DOI: 10.3390/biom11101422

Analysis of liver biopsy specimens showed that SARS-CoV-2 might have led to liver damage. This study aimed to evaluate the role of selected hepatokines and myokines in the development and progression of COVID-19. Seventy patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and 20 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study. Irisin, pentraxin 3, fetuin-A, and FGF-21 serum concentrations and biochemical parameters were assessed using an immunoenzymatic method with commercially available enzyme immunoassay (EIA) or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. Serum fetuin-A concentrations were significantly decreased in COVID-19 patients compared to healthy volunteers. The serum concentration of FGF-21 was significantly increased in obese COVID-19 patients compared to overweight ones. Moreover, the FGF-21 level was higher in COVID-19 patients diagnosed with metabolic syndrome than in patients without metabolic syndrome. PTX3 concentration was higher in COVID-19 patients with higher HOMA-IR values than those with lower HOMA-IR values. COVID-19 patients with HOMA-IR ≤ 3 and >3 had significantly lower fetuin-A levels than the control group. Irisin concentration was significantly decreased in the HOMA-IR ≤ 3 COVID-19 subgroup when comparing with the control group. Lower levels of fetuin-A observed in COVID-19 patients despite higher HOMA-IR, CRP, and ferritin levels, pneumonia, patients requiring ICU care suggests that fetuin-A deficiency predisposes to more severe COVID-19 course. Upregulated pentraxin 3 may be used as a potential predictor of COVID-19 severity.