Biochemical Parameters in Symptomatic and Asymptomatic COVID 19 patients- A comparative study

Abstract

Background: Covid-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China in the month of December 2019. Studies shows that different laboratory parameters are altered in Covid-19 patients with varied severity, and are useful as biomarkers to assess the progression of the disease. Certain biochemical parameters may predict the severity or the progression towards severity of the Covid-19 disease. Studies have stated that significant high value of LDH was noted in case of seriously ill patients. AST/ALT ratio a strong indicator of liver damage is used in analysing the severity of the disease. Elevation of ferritin is noted in case of inflammation. D-dimer has been identified as a potential indicator for its prognosis in COVID-19 patients. Methods: Total of 102 patients with RT-PCR test positive for COVID-19 were enrolled in the study. Study population is classified as Asymptomatic and symptomatic. Biochemical parameters like AST, ALT, Ferritin, D-dimer, LDH were analysed in serum samples obtained from the above patients. Fisher exact test and Chi-square test were used to find the significance of study parameters. Results: AST/ALT ratio was found to be moderately significant (p=0.044) with an increased value in symptomatic patients. LDH, D-Dimer and ferritin values were found to be high in symptomatic patients compared to asymptomatic patients and found to be statistically significant. Conclusion: Routinely used biochemical parameters show promise as potential markers of severity and prognosis. However further studies are required to evaluate the statistical utility of these markers.