ABSTRACT
Objectives: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of anemia among COVID-19 patients in Saudi Arabia and evaluate their hematological parameters. Materials and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional, hospital-based study was conducted between February 2021 to March 2021, data collection covered the period between September 2020 to March 2021. All the patients were hospitalized for confirmed COVID-19. Results: A total of 6048 COVID-19 patients included in our study, 2358 (48.9%) were anemic, 3666 (60.61%) were normal HGB level, and only 24 (0.49%) were having polycythemia. Hemoglobin level ranged from 5 g/dL to 18 g/dL with a median (interquartile range) of 11.8 g/dL (8.9 to 13.1) g/dL. The median for male (interquartile range) was for anemic patient’s 9.8 g/dL (8.5 to 11.4) g/dL, normal 14 g/dL (13.5 to 14.8) g/dL, and polycythemia 17.4 g/dL (17.2 to 17.7) g/dL. The median for female (interquartile range) was for anemic patient’s 9.1 g/dL (8.2 to 10.2) g/dL, normal 13.5 g/ dL (12.5 to 14.5) g/dL, and polycythemia 17 g/dL (16.82 to 17.2) g/dL. Hematological parameters detected are indicative of severe complications in anemic patients compared to non-anemic patients. Conclusion: Our findings were consistent with other studies that reported poor outcomes of anemia in COVID-19 patients. © 2022, Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Celiac disease is an autoimmune enteropathy disease caused by an immune reaction to gliadin which is a component of gluten that affects the intestinal lamina and leads to its atrophy, which occurs when a celiac patient consumes gluten products. The symptoms are different from diarrhea, vomiting, or abdominal pain after eating gluten, however, most of them are asymptomatic. Due to the low frequency of studies regarding celiac disease among youngsters in Saudi Arabia, thegoal of this study was to screen anti-gliadin IgA among students at the College of Applied Medical Sciences at Taif University. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 182 healthy participants from students at the College of Applied Medical Sciences at Taif University from March 3, 2022, to March 26, 2022. Some participants have confirmed to have food allergy or an immune disorder such as nut allergy, systemic lupus erythema, and wheat sensitivity. The anti-gliadin IgA test was performed by ELISA to assess anti-gliadin IgA titer on the serum of the students. 9 out of 182 were anti-gliadin IgA positive test. Most of the positive participants were females, and one was male, and all were healthy and confirmed to be undiagnosed previously with celiac disease neither their relatives. Moreover, they are not shown symptoms that are associated with their gluten intake. We found an association with many parameters of AGA positivity of the participants such as gender, BMI or COVID-19 infection and vaccine. This study provides a screening analysis of anti-gliadin IgA among students at College of Applied Medical Sciences at Taif University, and our results are similar to the prevalence of celiac disorder in Saudi Arabia. However, seropositivity for anti-gliadin IgA can be a marker for other enteropathies therefore other confirmatory tests should be performed.
ABSTRACT
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory virus, the spread of which has caused a global pandemic with catastrophic consequences. The current study aimed to investigate the association between vitamin D deficiency and the clinical presentation of COVID-19. Patients and methods: The current study included 166 COVID-19 patients recruited from Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted from October 2020 to January 2021. Patients were diagnosed by positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results. History and clinical data were collected for all subjects. In addition, laboratory analysis was done to estimate blood levels of 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin, parathyroid hormone (PTH), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), D-dimer, calcium, and relative lymphocytic count. COVID-19 patients were divided into three subgroups according to their vitamin D status. Patients were considered sufficient when their vitamin D level was above 30 ng/mL. Patients with vitamin D levels below 20 ng/mL were considered deficient. Patients with vitamin D levels ranging from 20 ng/mL to 30 ng/mL were considered insufficient. Results: Our results showed that 81 patients (49%) were deficient in vitamin D, and 48 patients (29%) were insufficient in vitamin D. Only 37 patients (22%) had normal vitamin D levels. Moreover, a significant difference was found regarding the inflammatory markers of COVID-19 severity. Also, vitamin D levels were inversely correlated with the markers used for monitoring the condition of COVID-19 patients: ferritin, CRP, and D-dimer. Conclusion: Our results showed that vitamin D deficiency was associated with increased levels of inflammatory markers of COVID-19 infection. © The Author(s) 2021.