Subject(s)
Alanine Transaminase/blood , Aspartate Aminotransferases/blood , Betacoronavirus , Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury , Chloroquine , Coronavirus Infections , Hepatitis, Viral, Human , Lopinavir , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral , Ritonavir , Antiviral Agents/administration & dosage , Antiviral Agents/adverse effects , Betacoronavirus/isolation & purification , Betacoronavirus/pathogenicity , COVID-19 , COVID-19 Testing , Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury/blood , Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury/diagnosis , Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury/etiology , Chloroquine/administration & dosage , Chloroquine/adverse effects , Clinical Laboratory Techniques/methods , Coronavirus Infections/complications , Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis , Coronavirus Infections/drug therapy , Coronavirus Infections/physiopathology , Diagnosis, Differential , Drug Combinations , Hepatitis, Viral, Human/blood , Hepatitis, Viral, Human/diagnosis , Hepatitis, Viral, Human/etiology , Humans , Liver/pathology , Liver Function Tests/methods , Lopinavir/administration & dosage , Lopinavir/adverse effects , Male , Middle Aged , Pneumonia, Viral/complications , Pneumonia, Viral/diagnosis , Pneumonia, Viral/physiopathology , Ritonavir/administration & dosage , Ritonavir/adverse effects , SARS-CoV-2 , COVID-19 Drug TreatmentABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Recent studies reported that patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) might have liver injury. However, few data on the combined analysis and change patterns of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and total bilirubin (TBil) have been shown. METHODS: This is a single-center retrospective study. A total of 105 adult patients hospitalized for confirmed COVID-19 in Beijing Ditan Hospital between January 12, and March 17, 2020 were included, and divided into mild group (n = 79) and severe group(n = 26). We compared liver functional test results between the two groups. Category of ALT change during the disease course was also examined. RESULTS: 56.2% (59/105) of the patients had unnormal ALT, AST, or total TBil throughout the course of the disease, but in 91.4% (96/105) cases the level of ALT, AST or TBil ≤3 fold of the upper limit of normal reference range (ULN). The overall distribution of ALT, AST, and TBil were all significantly difference between mild and severe group (P < 0.05). The percentage of the patients with elevated both ALT and AST was 12.7% (10/79) in mild cases vs. 46.2% (12/26) in severe cases (P = 0.001). 34.6% (9/26) severe group patients started to have abnormal ALT after admission, and 73.3% (77/105) of all patients had normal ALT before discharge. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated liver function index is very common in patients with COVID-19 infection, and the level were less than 3 × ULN, but most are reversible. The abnormality of 2 or more indexes is low in the patients with COVID-19, but it is more likely to occur in the severe group.