Abstract
Objective: COVID-19 is one of the most important health
problems concerning the last century and our knowledge of the disease is
still limited. In our study, we aimed to compare serum-soluble urokinase
plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) and kidney injury molecule-1
(KIM-1) level with clinical course in COVID-19 patients.
Methods: Our study included 102 patients over the age of 18 who
were diagnosed with Covid-19 between September 2020 and December 2020 by
taking nasopharyngeal swap and using real time PCR method and 30
volunteer medical personnel over the age of 18 who were PCR negative
after the nasopharyngeal swap. KİM-1 and suPAR were measured by
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results: NLR, LDH, prothrombin time, CRP,
PaO2/FiO2, D-Dimer, ferritin and
fibrinogen levels, which have been mentioned in previous studies to be
of prognostic importance for COVID-19, were observed to be higher in the
severely ill group (p=0,001, 0,001, 0,05, 0,001, 0,001, 0,005, 0,001,
0,001 respectively). suPAR and KIM-1 levels were statistically
significantly higher in patient groups compared to the control group
(p=0.001 for all). While suPAR level was statistically significantly
lower in severe patients compared to moderate patients (p=0.034), KIM-1
level was observed to be higher in severe patients (p=0.001).
Conclusion: The increased level of KIM-1 in severe patients,
which is thought to play an important role in the endocytosis of
SARS-CoV-2 to the cell, may have an important place for the therapeutic
target in the future. SuPAR can be considered to play an important role
especially in the defense mechanism and fibrinolysis and its decreased
level in severe patients may be associated with poor prognosis in the
early period. However, extensive studies are needed to reach a
definitive opinion about suPAR.
Keywords: COVID-19, KIM-1, suPAR