Table 1.
Clinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19 and control subjects
| Control subjects | Patients with COVID-19 | P | |
| N | 81 | 81 | |
| Age (yr) | 64.5 ± 6.9 | 64.1 ± 14.0 | 0.823 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 26.1 ± 3.5 | 27.5 ± 1.9 | 0.389 |
| Male sex | 60% | 60% | 1.000 |
| Arterial hypertension | 47% | 42% | 0.635 |
| Smokers | 15% | 11% | 0.641 |
| COPD | 9% | 17% | 0.159 |
| Diabetes | 16% | 14% | 0.328 |
| CAD | 7% | 15% | 0.210 |
| Heart failure | 2% | 9% | 0.167 |
| Atrial fibrillation | 6% | 10% | 0.471 |
| ACE inhibitors/ARBs | 40% | 35% | 0.427 |
| hs-CRP | — | 4.8 [1.7–13.9] | n.a. |
| D-dimer | — | 1,210 [1,210–2,771] | n.a. |
| LPS (pg/mL) | 13 [6–29] | 50 [23–73] | <0.001 |
| Zonulin (ng/mL) | 1.9 [1.2–2.2] | 2.9 [2.0–3.7] | <0.001 |
Differences between percentages were assessed by Fisher exact tests. All continuous variables were tested for normality with the Shapiro-Wilk test. The Student unpaired t test was used for normally distributed continuous variables (expressed as mean ± SD). The Mann-Whitney U test was used for non-normally distributed continuous variables (expressed as median [interquartile range]).
ACE, angiotensin-converting enzyme; ARB, angiotensin receptor blocker; BMI, body mass index; CAD, coronary heart disease; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; COVID-19, coronavirus 2019; hs-CRP: high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; LPS, lipopolysaccharides; n.a., not applicable.