The effect of inflammatory biomarkers on COVID-19 patients with diabetes and comorbidities
Abstract
The Beta variant Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a global health emergency, leading to pulmonary lesions and aggravation with preexisting cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and risk factors. A transversal retrospective study has been conducted at the infectious diseases ward of Tlemcen University Hospital Centre (CHU). The survey was conducted on 482 patients divided into 4 groups linked to preexisting cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. The data were collected from the medical records from March 2020–April 2022. The study revealed a high prevalence in patients with cardiovascular comorbidities (68%), including 37% with diabetes and 69% with hypertension. The clinical and biological evaluation of these patients found clearly worse results with a high mortality rate (34%). In the frame of the biological evaluation, we have noticed an unfavorable evolution for patients with cardiovascular disease history (+). The key parameter of the monitoring is oxygen saturation (SpO2), as the results indicated that persisting hypoxemia in hospitalized patients correlated significantly with C-reactive Protein (CRP) levels (p=0.04) and lymphocytes (p=0.009). Regarding inflammation, CRP levels were higher, exceeding 40 mg/L in subjects with a cardiovascular disease history (CDH+). Furthermore, the results: platelets (<100000/mm3 in patients with diabetes), fibrinogen (>6 g/L), and D-dimer (>1.5 µg/mL) confirmed high thrombotic risk in patients suffering from CVD regardless of diabetes. This study supports the hypothesis that cardiovascular comorbidities are contaminating and aggravating factors for the COVID-19 condition.