Correlation between Hepcidin and Procalcitonin and their diagnostic role in Patients with COVID-19

Abstract

Background:. The purpose of this study is to find out the association between procalcitonin and hepcidin in patients with COVID-19, in addition to their role as diagnostic markers.  Methods: A total of 75 patients infected with coronavirus were included in the current study, their age is ranging between 20 to 78 years. Those patients was hospitalized in Al-Sadr Teaching Hospital in Najaf, in Iraq. This study also included 50 healthy subjects which are volunteers and considered as a (control group). Biomarker (procalcitonin and hepcidin) measurements were achieved by electrochemiluminescent immunoassay (ECLIA) in the Elecsys immunoassay system. Results: The present study showed a significant increase the serum cencentration of hepcidin and procalcitonin in patients with COVID-19 as compared to healthy subjects. There was a highly significant increasing (p < 0.01) in hepcidin and PCT level in patients with severe infection comparing to other catgaries. The current study also revealed that the sensitivity values of the markers were : 0.88%, 0.85 for procalcitonin and hepcidin respectively, which indicate high diagnostic power.  Conclusion: Serum levels of hepcidin and procalcitonin are increased as inflammatory markers in COVID-19 patients with relatively high sensitivity. It seems that these imflammatory markers obviously elevate in the severe cases COVID-19 dusease.