Vitamin D, Albumin, and D-Dimer as Significant Prognostic Markers in Early Hospitalization in Patients with COVID-19

• Published in: Journal of clinical medicine Vol. 12; no. 8; p. 2825
• Main Authors: Popovska Jovičić, Biljana, Raković, Ivana, Gavrilović, Jagoda, Sekulić Marković, Sofija, Petrović, Sara, Marković, Vladan, Pavković, Aleksandar, Čanović, Predrag, Radojević Marjanović, Ružica, Irić-Čupić, Violeta, Popović Dragonjić, Lidija, Milosavljević, Miloš Z
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.04.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Albumin; Alfacalcidol; Blood; Body mass index; Calcifediol; Clinical medicine; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; D-dimer; Disease transmission; Health aspects; Hospital patients; Illnesses; Laboratories; Measurement; Medical examination; Medical prognosis; Oxygen saturation; Oxygen therapy; Pandemics; Prognosis; Proteins; Respiratory diseases; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; severity of illness; Statistical analysis; Ventilators; Viral infections; Vitamin D; Serbia; COVID-19; severity of illness; SARS-CoV-2; lethal outcome; vitamin D; albumin; D-dimer
• ISSN: 2077-0383; 2077-0383
• DOI: 10.3390/jcm12082825

SARS-CoV-2 continues to pose a major challenge to scientists and clinicians. We examined the significance of the serum concentrations of vitamin D, albumin, and D-dimer for the severity of the clinical picture and mortality in COVID-19. A total of 288 patients treated for COVID-19 infection participated in the research. The patients were treated in the period from May 2020 to January 2021. All patients were divided based on the need for oxygen therapy (Sat > 94%) into patients with mild or severe clinical pictures. The biochemical and radiographic parameters of the patients were analyzed. Appropriate statistical methods were used in the statistical analysis. In patients with COVID-19 with confirmed severe clinical pictures, lower values of serum albumin ( < 0.0005) and vitamin D ( = 0.004) were recorded, as opposed to elevated values of D-dimer ( < 0.0005). Accordingly, the patients with fatal disease outcomes had lower levels of albumin ( < 0.0005) and vitamin D ( = 0.002), while their D-dimer ( < 0.0005) levels were elevated. An increase in the radiographic score, as a parameter for assessing the severity of the clinical picture, was accompanied by a decrease in serum albumin ( < 0.0005) and a simultaneous increase in D-dimer ( < 0.0005), without a change in the vitamin D concentration ( = 0.261). We also demonstrated the interrelations of the serum levels of vitamin D, albumin, and D-dimer in patients with COVID-19 as well as their significance as predictors of the outcome of the disease. The significance of the predictive parameters in our study indicates the existence of an important combined role of vitamin D, albumin, and D-dimer in the early diagnosis of the most severe patients suffering from COVID-19. Reduced values of vitamin D and albumin, in combination with elevated values of D-dimer, can be timely indicators of the development of a severe clinical picture and death due to COVID-19.