Growth Differentiation Factor 15 (GDF-15): A Novel Biomarker Associated with Poorer Respiratory Function in COVID-19

It is essential to find new biomarkers for severity stratification of patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) is upregulated in pathological conditions that involve inflammation and/or oxidative stress. We determined circulating levels of GDF-15 and co...

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Main Authors: Leticia Alserawan, Patricia Peñacoba, Sandra Elizabet Orozco Echevarría, Diego Castillo, Esther Ortiz, Laura Martínez-Martínez, Esther Moga Naranjo, Pere Domingo, Ivan Castellví, Cándido Juárez, Anaís Mariscal
Format: article
Language:EN
Published: MDPI AG 2021
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Online Access:https://doaj.org/article/b230f501a5b2476f8dc48ce7d0de67d0
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Summary:It is essential to find new biomarkers for severity stratification of patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) is upregulated in pathological conditions that involve inflammation and/or oxidative stress. We determined circulating levels of GDF-15 and correlated them with clinical and laboratory parameters reflecting severity in 84 patients with COVID-19, finding that GDF-15 levels were higher in both patients than in 20 healthy controls and were higher in patients with poorer respiratory function. GDF-15 levels also correlated with interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, ferritin and D-dimer levels and with neutrophilia and lymphopenia. Of all the analysed biomarkers, GDF-15 showed the best area under the receiver operating characteristics curve in identifying patients with poor respiratory function. In conclusion, our data support GDF-15 as a biomarker associated with pulmonary impairment in COVID-19 and so can potentially be useful in stratifying COVID-19 cases by severity.