Investigating COVID-19 Severity Based on Serum Apelin-17 Levels and Inflammatory Mediators

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 and can lead to acute respiratory distress. Objective: We aimed to investigate the association between COVID-19 severity and serum apelin-17 and inflammatory mediator levels. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted on patients with COVID-19. COVID-19 infection was confirmed by the RT-PCR test. The patients' data were extracted from their records. Venous blood samples were obtained from the patients to investigate the serum levels of apelin-17 and inflammatory mediators. Results: Results: Eighty-six COVID-19 patients were studied. The mean age of the participants was 55.56±14.88, and 43 (50%) were male. Clinical symptoms were dyspnea 77.6%, fever 52.3%, cough 48.8%, gastrointestinal symptoms 15.1%, and chest pain 7%. The overall mortality rate was 7%. No significant relationship was found between serum apelin-17 levels and COVID-19 severity (P= 0.48). However, there was a significant and direct relationship between COVID-19 severity and serum levels of CRP (P= 0.038) and D-dimer (P= 0.029). Conclusion: Serum apelin-17 levels were higher in recovered patients than those who died (4.90 vs. 3.19). Moreover, serum apelin-17 levels were higher in the patients admitted to the general ward than those admitted to the ICU (5.15 vs. 3.98). The difference was not statistically significant. However, there was a significant and direct relationship between serum apelin-17 levels and lymphocyte count (P= 0.022). Moreover, there was a significant and inverse relationship between lymphocyte count and COVID-19 severity (P= 0.004). Therefore, it can be interpreted that COVID-19 severity may decrease with an increase in serum apelin-17 levels. Therefore, to prove this hypothesis, a study with larger sample size is recommended.

Distribution, Function, and Expression of the Apelinergic System in the Healthy and Diseased Mammalian Brain

“…Saravi and Beer proposed that apelin peptides can be used as a potential drug for improving the outcome of COVID-19 lung and cardio-vascular injuries [ 32 ]. Apelin-17 was shown to be indirectly related to the COVID-19 severity [ 33 ].…”