The relationship between lipid profile and COVID-19

Aim: Covid-19, which was first detected in the Wuhan region of China and then rapidly affected the whole world, causing it to be declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, is already a serious health problem for many countries. Our study aims to evaluate the lipid profiles of Covid-19 patients and to show their relationship with other laboratory parameters and their effect on prognosis. Materials and Methods: Our study was prepared retrospectively by taking inpatients with positive PCR results in Bezmialem Vakıf University Medical Faculty Hospital between March 2020 and June 2020, when the Covid-19 infection was first diagnosed in Turkey. In our study, anamnesis information, vital signs, laboratory parameters and CT findings obtained during the first hospitalization of the patients were examined retrospectively, and patients who did not have the parameters suitable for our study were excluded from the study. In addition, the discharge status of the patients as a result of the follow-ups and the need for an intensive care unit were added to the study. SPSS (version 21) software was used for statistical analysis. The conformity of the variables to the normal distribution was evaluated with Kolmogrov Smirnov and Shapiro Wilk tests and Q-Q plot and histogram graphs. As a result of the analysis, normally distributed variables were shown as mean ± standard deviation and non-normally distributed variables were shown as median (minimum-maximum). Categorical data were presented with frequency (percentage). In continuous data, comparisons of two groups were made with the Independent sample t-test when the data were normally distributed, with the Mann Whitney U test when they were not normally distributed, with the One-Way Analysis of Variance test when the three group comparisons were normally distributed, and with the Kruskal Wallis test when they were not normally distributed. Categorical data were compared with Fisher's precision test. The correlation between continuous data was analyzed with Spearman correlation since the data were not normally distributed. The p value of <0.05 was accepted for significance. Results: In this study 147 patients examined in the study, 67 (45.6%) of the patient were female and 80 (54.4%) of the patient were male. The age range of the patients was between 19 and 88, with a mean age of 53.7  15.9. When the lipid profiles of all patients were examined; The lowest total cholesterol value was 86 mg/dl, the highest was 297 mg/dl, and the mean was 167.11  39.21 mg/dl. The lowest triglyceride value was 45 mg/dl, while the highest was 393 mg/dl and the mean was 126.57  66.69 mg/dl. The lowest LDL value was 42 mg/dl, while the highest was 269.1 mg/dl and the mean was 111.0  38.51 mg/dl. The lowest HDL value was 18.8 mg/dl, while the highest was 76 mg/dl and the mean was 40.67  12.32 mg/dl. HDL value averages, respectively; It was 32.48  6.66 mg/dl in patients who received steroid treatment, and 40.67  12.58 mg/dl in patients who did not receive steroid treatment. The difference found was statistically significant (p<0.001). HDL median values are respectively; It was 42 (18.8-76) mg/dl in patients receiving oxygen therapy and 32.9 (20.4-62.8) mg/dl in patients not receiving oxygen therapy. The difference found was statistically significant (p=0.027). A positive correlation was found between triglyceride value, CRP and hospital stay. Triglyceride and CRP were found to be very weakly associated with r=0.178 (p<0.05), and triglyceride and hospitalization time r=0.276 (p<0.01) were weakly associated. There was a negative correlation between HDL value and CRP, procalcitonin, ferritin, LDH and length of stay in hospital. HDL and CRP r=-0.263 (p<0.01) are weakly associated, HDL and procalcitonin r=-0.245 (p<0.01) are very weakly associated, HDL and ferritin r=-0.351 (p<0.01) ) were weakly associated, HDL and LDH r=-0.253 (p<0.01) very weakly related, and HDL and hospitalization duration r=-0.301 (p<0.01) weakly related. Conclusion: In our study, a negative correlation was found between HDL cholesterol values, which are lipid parameters, and CRP, procalcitonin, ferritin and LDH. It is known that high CRP, procalcitonin, ferritin and LDH values with negative correlations are generally associated with the poor prognosis of Covid-19. For this reason, it was thought that low values of HDL could give an idea in terms of predicting poor prognosis. Keywords: Covid-19, HDL, CRP, Procalcitonin, LDH