An elevated 8-isoprostaglandin F2 alpha (8-iso-PGF2α) in COVID-19 subjects co-infected with malaria

Abstract

Introduction the most recently discovered severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) that causes COVID-19, subjected the entire world in turmoil health-wise and economically. With higher burden of malaria in Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries coupled with fragile healthcare system and delivery, these may pose a threat in the diagnosis and management of COVID-19 patients co-infected with malaria. Free radicals have been implicated in the progression and pathogenesis of malaria and COVID-19 through Fenton’s reaction and cytokine storm respectively. Methods the current research comprises of seventy-four (74) participants; 20 apparently healthy controls and 54 COVID-19 patients (34 among which were co-infected with malaria). Serum levels of 8-iso PGF2α and Alphatocopherol were determined among the study participants using ELISA technique and colorimetric assay, respectively. Results results revealed statistically significant elevation of 8-iso PGF2α in COVID-19 patients co-infected with malaria compared to COVID-19 patients only, and this may be due to increase production of free radicals. Furthermore, a significant decrease of Alphatocopherol was observed in COVID-19 co-infected with malaria compared to COVID-19 patients due to increase utilization of antioxidants in counterbalancing the negative effect of free radicals generated. Conclusion conclusively, SARS-COV-2 patients co-infected with malaria might be predisposed to oxidative stress and low Alphatocopherol. The increase in oxidative stress is proportional to malaria parasite density and inversely related to Alphatocopherol levels. This implies that oxidative stress is notably higher and such patients may have a severer form of the COVID-19. Increased 8-iso-PGF2α in co-infection and decreased alphatocopherol levels can reflect the severity and adverse outcomes compared to COVID-19 naïve because of their tremendous involvement in the pathogenesis and progression of diseases.

Prevalence and characteristics of malaria among COVID-19 individuals: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and analysis of case reports

“…We examined the full-texts of the remaining 385 articles, resulting in the exclusion of 375 articles due to the following reasons: 192 were review articles; 47 were commentaries, corrections, news items, letters to the editor, short reports, and communications; 43 were in vitro studies; 24 were about COVID-19 only, with non-relevant parameters; 16 were COVID-19 model predictions; 9 were conducted before 2019; 8 were molecular docking studies; 7 were non-relevant case reports; 6 were systematic and scoping reviews; 6 were community implementations; 5 were surveys; 5 were clinical trials related to COVID-19 treatment efficacy/safety but not associated with malaria; 4 were animal studies; 2 were cost-analytic studies; and 1 study reported the data of the same group of participants. After these exclusions, 10 studies [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] met the eligibility criteria and were included. An additional two studies [20,21] were retrieved from Google Scholar and included.…”

“…An additional two studies [20,21] were retrieved from Google Scholar and included. Thus, a final set of 12 studies [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] were included for qualitative and quantitative synthesis (meta-analysis) and analysis of co-infected cases. Among the 12 studies included, 5 [10][11][12][13]21] were original research articles, and 7 [14][15][16][17][18][19][20] were case reports or series (Fig 1).…”

“…Among the five included studies, four were cross-sectional studies [11][12][13]21], and one was a retrospective cohort study [10]. Three studies were conducted in Nigeria [11,12,21], one in India [13], and one was conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo [10].…”

“…Among the five included studies, four were cross-sectional studies [11][12][13]21], and one was a retrospective cohort study [10]. Three studies were conducted in Nigeria [11,12,21], one in India [13], and one was conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo [10]. Four studies enrolled patients in tertiary city hospitals, while one study enrolled patients at the COVID-19 Drive-through testing center.…”

“…Four studies enrolled patients in tertiary city hospitals, while one study enrolled patients at the COVID-19 Drive-through testing center. Three studies [10][11][12] (3/4, 75%) enrolled individuals with confirmed COVID-19, while two studies enrolled individuals with suspected COVID-19 [13,21]. The diagnosis of COVID-19 relied on RT-PCR by four studies [10,11,13,21], whereas one study did not specify the laboratory confirmation of COVID-19 [12].…”