Assessment of serum ferritin as a biomarker in COVID-19: bystander or participant? Insights by comparison with other infectious and non-infectious diseases.
Biomarkers
; 25(8): 616-625, 2020 Dec.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-967371
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has an impact on all aspects of patient care. Serum ferritin generally represents a biomarker of choice when iron deficiency is suspected. However, ferritin is also an acute-phase-protein exhibiting elevated serum concentration in various inflammatory diseases. Here we focus on the role of serum ferritin for diagnostic and clinical management of patients with COVID-19 in comparison with other infectious and non-infectious diseases.METHODS:
We examined scientific articles listed in PubMed reporting on ferritin in various infectious and non-infectious diseases. We then compared these results with nine current COVID-19 ferritin reports published in 2020.RESULTS:
Several non-infectious, as well as non-COVID-19 infectious diseases, are characterised by a partly dramatic elevation of serum ferritin levels. All COVID-19 studies published between February and May 2020, which documented laboratory serum ferritin, indicate ferritin as a biomarker of COVID-19 severity in hospitalised patients.CONCLUSIONS:
Serum ferritin may be considered both a prognostic and stratifying biomarker that can also contribute to therapeutic decision-making concerning patients with COVID-19. It should be emphasised, however, that most scientific reports refer to cohorts in the Asian region. Further validation in other cohorts is urgently required.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Biomarkers
/
Communicable Diseases
/
Ferritins
/
COVID-19
/
Inflammation
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Reviews
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Journal:
Biomarkers
Journal subject:
Biochemistry
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
1354750x.2020.1797880
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