Hongwei Li

and 6 more

Objective  To investigate the expression of neuropeptide family members in the peripheral blood of children infected with COVID-19 and its correlation with inflammatory indicators. Methods  Blood samples were collected from 40 newly diagnosed children with COVID-19 infection and 17 hospitalized children with non-COVID-19 bronchial pneumonia in our hospital during the same period. Baseline clinical data were collected and analyzed. Expression and correlation analysis of neuropeptide-related molecules in peripheral blood were detected and analyzed by ELISA. Results  In this study, 43% of COVID-19 patients are male. 71% of non-COVID-19 patients are male. ACE and ACE2 in the COVID-19 group were not significantly higher than that in the non-COVID-19 group, and ACE2 in non-COVID-19 and moderate COVID-19 groups was higher than that in severe groups (p=0.04*; p=0.03*). ASCL1 in the non-COVID-19 group was higher than that in the COVID-19 group (p=0.04*). ASCL1 in the non-COVID group was higher than that in the severe COVID group (P=0.02*). There were no significant differences in SP, VIP, and GRP between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 groups. ASCL1 respectively with N % (r = -0.534, p < 0.001 * * *), CRP (r =- 0.522, p < 0.001 * * *) negatively correlated, L % (r = 0.572, p< 0.001 * * *), AST (r = 0.496, p = 0.001 * *) were positively correlated. There was no significant correlation with WBC count, PLT count, ALT, LDH. Conclusions We found that, unlike adults, ACE and ACE2 were not high in children with COVID-19. ASCL1 in children with COVID-19 is lower than that in non-COVID-19 children, which may indicate that ASCL1 may be decreased in COVID-19 patients. At the same time, ASCL1 is negatively correlated with N% and CRP, suggesting that ASCL1 may play a certain role in COVID-19 inflammation.