Increased circulating microparticles and inflammatory factors aggravate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Background The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has posed tremendous challenges to the world's public health. The conditions of some patients can quickly progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome and even death. Current studies suggest that an outbreak of inflammatory response known as cytokine storm may play a key role in the process. This study was performed to investigate the relativity of the production of circulating microparticles (cMPs) and the expression of inflammatory factors (interleukin [IL]-6, IL-8 and IL-10) expression in the blood on the degree of COVID-19. Methods A total of 89 patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 were divided into four groups, namely, mild, moderate, severe and critically ill groups, according to China's COVID-19 Diagnosis and Treatment Program (6th trial version), and 30 healthy persons were selected as the control group. The groups were compared in terms of cMP production and IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 levels in their blood, and the correlation between cMP production and the expression of inflammatory factors with the degree of COVID-19 were analysed. Results Differences in cMP production and IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 expression levels among the five groups were statistically significant (P<0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed a positive correlation between cMP production or the expression of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 and the degree of COVID-19 (cMP, r=0.981; IL-6, r=0.954; IL-8, r=0.863; IL-10, r=0.895; P<0.05). Conclusion Increased levels of cMP, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 aggravate COVID-19. cMP production and the expression of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 may predict the degree of COVID-19 to a certain extent. The early inhibition of cMP overproduction and IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 expression may be an important therapeutic target for the prevention of COVID-19 progression.