Utility of inflammatory makers, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and procalcitonin tests in COVID-19

Shkar Rzgar K.Rostam; Khattab Ahmed Mustafa  Shekhany; Hardi Rafat Baqi Baqi

doi:10.15218/zjms.2022.003

Authors

Shkar Rzgar K.Rostam Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Sulaimani, Iraq.
Khattab Ahmed Mustafa Shekhany Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Sulaimani, Iraq.
Hardi Rafat Baqi Baqi Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Shaqlawa Technical College, Erbil Polytechnic University, Erbil, Iraq.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15218/zjms.2022.003

Keywords:

COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Ferritin, Procalcitonin, Alanine aminotransferase, Aspartate aminotransferase

Abstract

Background and objective: Many tests are conducted for monitoring the progression and the severity of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection. However, the extent to which these tests are helpful in clinical practice and therapeutics of COVID-19 is still ambiguous. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of performing inflammatory marker tests, liver function tests, and procalcitonin test in the diagnosis and monitoring of COVID-19 infection.

Methods: The current study compares the results of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, ferritin, and procalcitonin tests in two different populations of 123 COVID-19 suspects and a control group of 110 healthy individuals in Erbil city of Kurdistan region of Iraq to search for possible significant differences in both groups.

Results: The COVID-19 group had significantly higher ferritin and procalcitonin mean values than the control group (P = 0.001). The differences between alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase were significant in some age and gender classes of both groups. However, the overall differences were not statistically significant (P = 0.339 and 0.286, respectively).

Conclusion: The outcome of the current study suggests that among the group of tests conducted for the study population, the most useful tests are ferritin and procalcitonin to monitor the COVID-19 patients' health status.

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