Ataturk University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Erzurum, Turkey.
Ataturk University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Erzurum, Turkey.
Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2022 Jul 25;55:e06152021. doi: 10.1590/0037-8682-0615-2021. eCollection 2022.
Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) results in acute lung injury. This study examined the usefulness of serum transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) levels in predicting disease severity in COVID-19 patients with pulmonary involvement.
Fifty patients with confirmed COVID-19 and pulmonary involvement between September 2020, and February 2021 (Group 1) and 45 healthy controls (Group 2) were classified into three subgroups based on clinical severity: moderate, severe, and critical pneumonia. Serum TGF-β1 and CTGF concentrations were measured on days 1 and 7 of admission in Group 1 using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. These concentrations were also measured in control cases. The mean serum TGF-β1 and CTGF levels were then compared among COVID-19 patients, based on clinical severity.
Significantly higher mean serum TGF-β1 and CTGF levels were observed on both days in Group 1 than in the control group. The mean serum TGF-β1 and CTGF levels on day 7 were also significantly higher than those on day 1 in Group 1. The critical patient group had the highest serum TGF-β1 and CTGF levels on both days, and the difference between this group and the moderate and severe pneumonia groups was significant. Cutoff values of 5.36 ng/mL for TGF-β1 and 626.2 pg/mL for CTGF emerged as predictors of COVID-19 with pulmonary involvement in receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis.
TGF-β1 and CTGF are potential markers that can distinguish COVID-19 patients with pulmonary involvement and indicate disease severity. These findings may be useful for initiating treatment for early-stage COVID-19.
新型冠状病毒病 2019（COVID-19）可导致急性肺损伤。本研究旨在探讨血清转化生长因子-β1（TGF-β1）和结缔组织生长因子（CTGF）水平在预测 COVID-19 合并肺部受累患者疾病严重程度中的作用。
2020 年 9 月至 2021 年 2 月期间，我们纳入了 50 例确诊为 COVID-19 合并肺部受累的患者（第 1 组）和 45 例健康对照者（第 2 组），根据临床严重程度将第 1 组患者分为三组：中度、重度和危重症肺炎。采用酶联免疫吸附试验检测第 1 组患者入院第 1 天和第 7 天的血清 TGF-β1 和 CTGF 浓度，并检测对照组的相应浓度。比较 COVID-19 患者根据临床严重程度的血清 TGF-β1 和 CTGF 平均浓度。
第 1 组患者的血清 TGF-β1 和 CTGF 平均浓度在两天内均显著高于对照组。第 1 组患者的血清 TGF-β1 和 CTGF 浓度在第 7 天也显著高于第 1 天。危重症组患者在两天内的血清 TGF-β1 和 CTGF 水平均最高，与中度和重度肺炎组相比差异有统计学意义。TGF-β1 的截断值为 5.36ng/ml，CTGF 的截断值为 626.2pg/ml，在受试者工作特征曲线分析中可作为预测 COVID-19 合并肺部受累的指标。
TGF-β1 和 CTGF 可能是鉴别 COVID-19 合并肺部受累患者和判断疾病严重程度的潜在标志物。这些发现可能有助于为早期 COVID-19 患者启动治疗。
