Letter to the Editor: Low-density lipoprotein is a potential predictor of poor prognosis in patients with coronavirus disease 2019.

BACKGROUND

The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global threat to public health. The lipid pathophysiology in COVID-19 is unknown.

METHODS

In this retrospective longitudinal study, we monitored the serum lipids in 17 surviving and 4 non-surviving COVID-19 cases prior to their viral infections and duration the entire disease courses.

RESULTS

In surviving cases, the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels decreased significantly on admission as compared with the levels before infection; the LDL levels remained constantly low during the disease progression and resumed to the original levels when patients recovered (pre-infection: 3.5 (3.0-4.4); on admission: 2.8 (2.3-3.1), p < 0.01; progression: 2.5 (2.3-3.0); discharge: 3.6 (2.7-4.1); median (IQR), in mmol/L). In non-surviving patients, LDL levels showed an irreversible and continuous decrease until death (1.1 (0.9-1.2), p = 0.02 versus the levels on admission). The ratio changes of LDL levels inversely correlated with ratio changes of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels. Logistic regression analysis showed increasing odds of lowered LDL levels associated with disease progression (odds ratio: 4.48, 95% IC: 1.55-12.92, p = 0.006) and in-hospital death (odds ratio: 21.72, 95% IC: 1.40-337.54, p = 0.028).

CONCLUSIONS

LDL levels inversely correlated to disease severities, which could be a predictor for disease progress and poor prognosis.