Table 1. . Clinical characteristics and routine laboratory data of enrolled participants with acute or prior severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection (‘COVID-19’ patients) and non-exposed controls.
| Clinical parameter | Recovered from acute SARS-CoV-2 infection (plasma donors, n = 43) |
Hospitalized and with acute SARS-CoV-2 infection (n = 102) | p-value for multiple comparison | Non-COVID-19 control group | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not requiring hospitalization due to COVID-19 (n = 26) | Required hospitalization due to COVID-19 (n = 17) | Not requiring oxygen therapy (WHO scale: 3; n = 27) |
Oxygen via nasal cannula only (WHO scale: 4; n = 33) | ICU care (due to invasive mechanical ventilation or other cause) and survived (WHO scale: 6 + 7; n = 17) | Hospitalized due to COVID-19 and deceased (WHO scale: 8; n = 25) | |||
| Age (years) | 45.0 (34.0–54.0) | 50.0 (43.0–62.0) | 57.0 (42.0–69.0) | 67.0 (63.0–78.0) | 59.0 (50.0–68.0) | 76.0 (72.0–80.0) | <0.0001 | 37.0 (34.0–40.0) |
| Sex (male/female) | (15/11) | (12/5) | (17/10) | (20/13) | (8/11) | (11/14) | 0.52† | (0/39) |
| Diabetes mellitus (any type) | 1/26 (3.86%) | 2/17 (11.76%) | 4/27 (14.81%) | 8/33 (24.24%) | 2/17 (11.76%) | 11/25 (44%) | 0.024† | 1/39 (2.56%)§ |
| Hypertension | 7/26 (26.92%) | 5/17 (29.41%) | 13/27 (48.15%) | 22/33 (66.67%) | 11/17 (64.71%) | 20/25 (80%) | 0.0013† | 2/39 (5.13%) |
| Chronic heart disease | 0/26 (0%) | 1/17 (5.88%) | 6/27 (22.22%) | 14/33 (42.42%) | 3/17 (17.65%) | 11/25 (44%) | 0.045† | 0/39 (0%) |
| Chronic pulmonary disease | 0/26 (0%) | 2/17 (11.76%) | 3/27 (11.11%) | 6/33 (18.18%) | 4/17 (23.53%) | 9/25 (36%) | 0.22† | 0/39 (0%) |
| Chronic liver disease | NA | NA | 4/25 (16%) | 1/28 (3.57%) | 0/14 (0%) | 1/23 (4.35%) | 0.23† | 14/39 (35.9%)‡ |
| Dementia or other CNS disease | NA | NA | 0/25 (0%) 4/25 (16%) |
3/28 (10.71%) 7/28 (25%) |
1/14 (7.14%) 2/14 (14.29) |
6/23 (26.09%) 9/23 (39.13%) |
0.24† | 0/39 (0%) |
| Malignancy | 0/26 (0%) | 0/17 (0%) | 4/26 (15.38%) | 2/32 (6.25%) | 8/17 (47.06%) | 9/25 (36%) | 0.0095† | 1/39 (2.56%) |
| White blood cell count (g/l) | 6.61 (5.5–7.41) | 5.22 (4.83–6.65) | 6.25 (4.85–7.42) | 6.22 (4.98–7.69) | 6.55 (4.82–7.76) | 7.45 (4.78–11.58) | 0.4 | 6.62 (5.56–7.48) |
| Absolute lymphocyte count (g/l) | 1.99 (1.84–2.4) | 1.95 (1.72–2.25) | 1.58 (0.99–2.18) | 1.52 (0.96–1.85) | 0.91 (0.8–1.25) | 0.77 (0.5–1.1) | <0.0001 | 1.75 (1.56–2.23) |
| D-dimer (ng/ml) | 207.5 (158.0–453.0) | 289.0 (209.0–449.0) | 1460.0 (610.0–2210.0) | 851.0 (530.0–1526.0) | 1658.0 (912.5–3080.0) | 1430.0 (1106.0–4380.0) | <0.0001 | NA |
| Fasting blood glucose (mmol/l) | NA | NA | 4.7 (4.2–5.9) | 4.7 (4.35–5.35) | 5.86 (4.64–6.2) | 6.1 (4.7–8.1) | 0.09 | 5.2 (4.9–5.4) |
| ASAT (U/l) | NA | NA | 21.0 (18.0–31.0) | 31.0 (22.0–42.0) | 40.0 (28.0–60.0) | 51.0 (30.0–82.0) | 0.0001 | 21.5 (19.0–25.0) |
| ALAT (U/l) | NA | NA | 19.0 (13.0–20.0) | 27.0 (.0–42.0) | 35.0 (26.0–65.0) | 34.5 (14.5–71.0) | 0.01 | 18.0 (14.0–23.0) |
| gGT (U/l) | NA | NA | 30.5 (23.5–47.0) | 64.0 (24.0–71.0) | 100.0 (25.0–144.0) | 72.0 (26.0–92.0) | 0.29 | 19.0 (14.0–27.0) |
| Alkaline phosphatase (U/l) | NA | NA | 75.5 (56.0–90.0) | 76.0 (56.0–96.0) | 85.5 (59.5–158.0) | 106.0 (71.0–143.5) | 0.07 | 76.0 (60.0–98.0) |
| Serum albumin (g/l) | 48.0 (47.0–50.0) | 46.0 (44.5–47.5) | 35.0 (32.8–37.3) | 33.0 (26.8–38.1) | 32.0 (26.4–37.0) | 29.15 (24.6–34.5) | <0.0001 | 46.1 (43.2–48.4) |
| Creatinine (μmol/l) | NA | NA | 76.0 (51.0–94.0) | 70.0 (59.0–85.0) | 72.0 (53.0–104.0) | 139.0 (62.0–189.0) | 0.07 | 64.0 (58.0–70.0) |
| CRP (mg/l) | 1.0 (0.3–2.5) | 0.45 (0.2–0.95) | 11.95 (5.6–41.0) | 36.8 (17.5–88.6) | 111.0 (61.3–169.1) | 149.1 (54.9–196.8) | <0.0001 | 3.5 (1.2–9.9) |
| PCT (ng/ml) | NA | NA | 0.03 (0.02–0.06) | 0.02 (0.02–0.14) | 0.17 (0.06–0.26) | 0.34 (0.11–1.11) | <0.0001 | NA |
| Ferritin (ng/ml) | NA | 231.0 (224.0–238.0) | 320.0 (163.0–547.0) | 379.0 (230.0–710.2) | 1321.0 (929.0–1784.0) | 702.0 (423.0–2080.0) | <0.0001 | NA |
| IL-6 (pg/ml) | 1.66 (1.125–2.5) | 2.02 (1.84–6.11) | 12.48 (5.63–24.5) | 27.86 (9.5–63.79) | 40.1 (14.3–51.3) | 90.42 (34.6–267.3) | <0.0001 | NA |
| BMI (kg/m2) | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 26.2 (22.8–32.5) |
| 120′ plasma glucose during 75 g OGTT | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 5.9 (5.3–7.4) |
| HbA1c (% / mmol/mol) | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 5.5 (5.2–5.6) |
Data are median (IQR), n (%) or n/N (%), where N is the total number of patients with available dat a.
Troponin values were not assessed because the two participating institutions were routinely measuring different types of troponins: highly sensitive cardiac troponin T vs I.
p-values are for multiple group comparisons of COVID-19 groups and were calculated using the Kruskal–Wallis test (continuous parameters) or using the multinomial logistic regression mode (nominal variables).
The term ‘WHO scale’ refers to the peak COVID-19 disease severity on the WHO ordinary scale [12].
All participants were females in the “non-COVID-19” group and underwent 75 g OGTT and sampling prior to September 2019 due to their participation in another study.
Diabetes and prediabetes (13/39) were diagnosed based on either the 75 g OGTT results (IFG and/or IGT) or based on the HbA1c or on both criteria. 75 g OGTT and HbA1c data are only available in the ‘non-COVID-19’ control group.
ALAT: Alanine aminotransferase; ASAT: Aspartate aminotransferase; CRP: C-reactive protein; gGT: Gamma glutamyl-transferase; IFG: Impaired fasting glycemia; IGT: Impaired glucose tolerance; IQR: Interquartile range; NA: Not applicable; OGTT: Oral glucose tolerance test; PCT: Procalcitonine.