High-density lipoproteins may play a crucial role in COVID-19

• Published in: Virology journal Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 1 - 135
• Main Authors: Nain, Minu, Gupta, Apoorv, Malhotra, Sumit, Sharma, Amit
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central Ltd 23.08.2022; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Cholesterol; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Cytokine storm; Dengue fever; Disease; Dyslipidemia; Epstein-Barr virus; HDL; Health aspects; Hepatitis; High density lipoprotein; High density lipoproteins; HIV; Human immunodeficiency virus; Infections; Infectious diseases; Life cycles; Lipids; Lipoproteins; Lipoproteins (very low density); Low density lipoprotein; Medical research; Metabolism; Mortality; Oxidation; Pathogenesis; Permeability; Public health; Serum lipids; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Triglycerides; Viral infections; Viruses; India
• ISSN: 1743-422X; 1743-422X
• DOI: 10.1186/s12985-022-01865-4

Lipids play a central role in the virus life cycle and are a crucial target to develop antiviral therapeutics. Importantly, among the other lipoproteins, the 'good cholesterol' high-density lipoprotein (HDL) has been widely studied for its role in not only cardiovascular but several infectious diseases as well. Studies have suggested a role of serum lipids and lipoproteins including HDL, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) in several viral infections including COVID-19. This disease is currently a major public health problem and there is a need to explore the role of these host lipids/lipoproteins in virus pathogenesis. A total of 75 retrospective COVID-19 positive serum samples and 10 COVID-19 negative controls were studied for their lipid profiles including TC, HDL, LDL, and very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL), and TG. Systematic literature search on dyslipidemia status in India shows that low HDL is the most common dyslipidemia. In this cohort, 65% (49) of COVID-19 patients had severely low HDL levels whereas 35% (26) had moderately low HDL and none had normal HDL levels. On the other hand, ~ 96% of samples had normal TC (72) and LDL (72) levels. VLDL and TG levels were also variable. In the controls, 100% of samples had moderately low HDL but none severely low HDL levels. HDL likely plays a crucial role in COVID-19 infection and outcomes. The causal relationships between HDL levels and COVID-19 need to be studied extensively for an understanding of disease pathogenesis and management.