ABSTRACT
COVID-19 requires a complex assessment of disease progression. We aimed to assess the prognostic value of biochemical and complete blood count (CBC) parameters and their indexes in the progression of COVID-19 in patients with Diabetes mellitus (DM). Data from 784 patients hospitalized at the University Clinical Center Nis were assessed. Patients were divided into the control and DM groups. Disease progression was defined as a lethal outcome or intensive care treatment requirement. Patients' laboratory data upon admission was observed. There were 163 subjects (20.8%) with DM and 621 (79.2%) controls. In 52.8% of DM patients and 45.6% of controls, progression was observed. The ANOVA test showed significance between progression and IL-6 (P < 0.05), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (P < 0.05), and CRP-IL-6 ratio (P = 0.02) in both groups. In controls, CRP (P = 0.012) and LDH (P = 0.000) were also highlighted. ROC analysis showed the best results for IL-6 (AUC = 0.77 and 0.64). There was a significant positive correlation of CRP, NLR, and CRP-IL-6 ratio (P = 0.05) with progression, while IL-6 correlated more significantly (P = 0.01) in DM patients. In controls, all correlations were of high significance (P = 0.01). Commonly assessed CBC and biochemistry parameters showed a more significant link to progression in controls than in DM patients, whereas the most highlighted marker was IL-6.