The correlation between viral clearance and biochemical outcomes of 94 COVID-19 infected discharged patients

• Published in: Inflammation research 2020-06, Vol.69 (6), p.599-606
• Main Authors: Yuan, Jing, Zou, Rougrong, Zeng, Lijiao, Kou, Shanglong, Lan, Jianfeng, Li, Xiaohe, Liang, Yanhua, Ding, Xiaoyan, Tan, Guoyu, Tang, Shenghong, Liu, Lei, Liu, Yingxia, Pan, Yanchao, Wang, Zhaoqin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Allergology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; C-reactive protein; Child; Child, Preschool; China; Coronavirus Infections - blood; Coronavirus Infections - drug therapy; Coronavirus Infections - physiopathology; Coronavirus Infections - virology; Coronaviruses; Correlation analysis; COVID-19; Creatine; Creatine kinase; Creatine Kinase - blood; Dermatology; Drug Combinations; Electronic health records; Electronic medical records; Health services; Humans; Immunology; Infections; Interferon; Interferon-alpha - therapeutic use; Interleukin 6; Kinases; L-Lactate dehydrogenase; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase - blood; Laboratories; Lactate dehydrogenase; Lactic acid; Lopinavir; Lopinavir - therapeutic use; Medical treatment; Middle Aged; mRNA; Neurology; Original Research Paper; Pandemics; Patients; Pharmacology/Toxicology; Physicians; Pneumonia, Viral - blood; Pneumonia, Viral - drug therapy; Pneumonia, Viral - physiopathology; Pneumonia, Viral - virology; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Retrospective Studies; Rheumatology; Ribavirin; Ritonavir; Ritonavir - therapeutic use; RNA, Viral - analysis; Signs and symptoms; Viral diseases; Viruses; Young Adult; α-Interferon
• ISSN: 1023-3830; 1420-908X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00011-020-01342-0

Objective This study aims to evaluate the correlation between viral clearance and blood biochemical index of 94 discharged patients with COVID-19 infection in Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital, enrolled from Jan 5 to Feb 13, 2020. Methods The clinical and laboratory findings were extracted from the electronic medical records of the patients. The data were analysed and reviewed by a trained team of physicians. Information on clinical signs and symptoms, medical treatment, virus clearance, and laboratory parameters including interleukin 6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein were collected. Results COVID-19 mRNA clearance ratio was identified significantly correlated with the decline of serum creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels. Furthermore, COVID-19 mRNA clearance time was positively correlated with the length of hospital stay in patients treated with either IFN-α + lopinavir/ritonavir or IFN-α + lopinavir/ritonavir + ribavirin. Conclusions Therapeutic regimens of IFN-α + lopinavir/ritonavir and IFN-α + lopinavir/ritonavir + ribavirin might be beneficial for treatment of COVID-19. Serum LDH or CK decline may predict a favorable response to treatment of COVID-19 infection.