Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Institute for Clinical Chemistry, 50937, Cologne, Germany.
Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Translational Research, Cologne Excellence Cluster On Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), University of Cologne, 50931, Cologne, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jun 8;12(1):9447. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-13260-8.
Beneficial effects of vitamin D on COVID-19 progression have been discussed in several studies. Vitamin D stimulates the expression of the antimicrobial peptide LL-37, and evidence shows that LL-37 can antagonize SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, we investigated the association between LL-37 and vitamin D serum levels and the severity of COVID-19. To this end, 78 COVID-19 patients were divided into 5 groups according to disease severity. We determined serum levels of LL-37, vitamin D, and routine laboratory parameters. We demonstrated a correlation of CRP, IL-6, PCT, leukocyte count, and LDH with the severity of COVID-19. Our study did not demonstrate a direct relationship between serum levels of LL-37 and vitamin D and the severity of COVID-19. LL-37 is produced by granulocytes and released at the site of inflammation. Therefore, the analysis of LL-37 in broncho-alvelolar lavage rather than in patient serum seems critical. However, since LL-37 is produced by granulocytes, we determined serum LL-37 levels as a function of leukocyte count. The LL-37/leukocyte count ratio correlates highly significantly inversely proportional with COVID-19 severity. Our results indicate that the LL-37/leukocyte count ratio could be used to assess the risk of COVID-19 progression as early as hospital admission.
几项研究探讨了维生素 D 对 COVID-19 进展的有益影响。维生素 D 可刺激抗菌肽 LL-37 的表达，有证据表明 LL-37 可以对抗 SARS-CoV-2。因此，我们研究了 LL-37 和维生素 D 血清水平与 COVID-19 严重程度之间的关系。为此，我们根据疾病严重程度将 78 例 COVID-19 患者分为 5 组。我们测定了血清 LL-37、维生素 D 和常规实验室参数水平。我们发现 CRP、IL-6、PCT、白细胞计数和 LDH 与 COVID-19 的严重程度相关。我们的研究没有显示血清 LL-37 和维生素 D 水平与 COVID-19 严重程度之间存在直接关系。LL-37 由粒细胞产生并在炎症部位释放。因此，分析支气管肺泡灌洗液中的 LL-37 而不是患者血清中的 LL-37 似乎至关重要。然而，由于 LL-37 是由粒细胞产生的，我们将血清 LL-37 水平作为白细胞计数的函数来测定。LL-37/白细胞计数比值与 COVID-19 严重程度呈高度负相关。我们的结果表明，LL-37/白细胞计数比值可用于评估 COVID-19 患者入院时的进展风险。
