Blood Test Can Predict COVID-19 Severity
The research team, socially distanced: Mary Young (from left), Mayuresh Abhyankar, Bill Petri and Allie Donlan.
A blood test at the time of diagnosis of COVID-19 can identify patients most at risk for needing a ventilator later on, new research from our Bill Petri, MD, PhD, suggests.Dr. Petri's thoughts on why the victory over polio should give us hope in the fight against COVID-19
Dr. Petri and his team found that they could predict patient outcomes based on the levels of a particular cytokine in the blood. Cytokines are proteins produced by immune cells. I'm sure you've heard a lot about the deadly "cytokine storms" seen in severe cases of COVID-19 -- these storms are when the immune system spirals out of control, flooding the body with inflammation.
Dr. Petri determined that the best predictor of COVID-19 outcomes was a particular cytokine typically associated with allergies. High levels of this cytokine, IL-13, were associated with worsened COVID-19 outcomes regardless of age, gender or pre-existing health problems.
The researchers say the discovery could be used as part of a scoring system to let doctors flag up at-risk COVID-19 patients. Doctors also may be able to target IL-13, and other cytokines Dr. Petri's team identified, to prevent cytokine storms in patients with severe COVID-19.
Interestingly, Dr. Petri found that two cytokines were significantly elevated in COVID-19 patients with high blood sugar. This may help explain why diabetes is associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes: The immune system is already primed to overreact.
Dr. Petri and his team are continuing their research. We'll keep you posted. In the meantime, you might check out
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