Investigating COVID-19 severity based on serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)

ABSTRACT

Introduction: COVID-19 is an acute, sometimes severe, respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus SARSCoV-2. Aims and objectives: This study aimed to investigate the severity of COVID-19 based on serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor. Method(s) This cross-sectional study was conducted on 86 patients with COVID-19. They diagnosed using the RTPCR test taken from the throat and nose. The patient's demographic information were extracted from patients' records. A 5-ml venous blood sample was taken from each patient. VEGF was measured with the ELISA method using the Hangzhou East biopharma VEGF ELIZA Kit. Result(s) The mean age of patients was 55.56+/-14.88 years old. Fifty percent were male. The most common clinical symptom in patients was shortness of breath (77.9%). The VEGF and CRP mean serum levels were 2877.07+/-104.77 ng/ml and 46.16+/-24.23 mm/hour, respectively. There was no significant relationship between VEGF levels and COVID-19 severity (P=0.55). The percentage of pulmonary involvement > 50 in the severe group (72.7%) was higher than that of the non-severe group (2.4%) (P=0.001). There was a significant relationship between COVID-19 severity and the levels of LDH, neutrophil/lymph ratio, and CRP. Regarding medications, Remdesivir was used more in the severe group (70.5%) than in the non-severe group (45.2%) (P=0.018). Conclusion(s) Although serum VEGF levels were higher in severe group than non-severe group, but the difference was not statistically significant. Therefore, these inflammatory markers can assist in the initial evaluation of COVID19. Physicians should monitor serum levels of LDH, neutrophil/lymph ratio, and CRP when admitting COVID-19 patients.