Serum Cystatin C and Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Potential Inflammatory Biomarker in Predicting Critical Illness and Mortality for Adult Patients

Abstract EN

This study aimed at determining the relationship between baseline cystatin C levels and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and investigating the potential prognostic value of serum cystatin C in adult patients with COVID-19.

481 patients with COVID-19 were consecutively included in this study from January 2, 2020, and followed up to April 15, 2020.

All clinical and laboratory data of COVID-19 patients with definite outcomes were reviewed.

For every measure, COVID-19 patients were grouped into quartiles according to the baseline levels of serum cystatin C.

The highest cystatin C level was significantly related to more severe inflammatory conditions, worse organ dysfunction, and worse outcomes among patients with COVID-19 (P values < 0.05).

In the adjusted logistic regression analyses, the highest cystatin C level and ln-transformed cystatin C levels were independently associated with the risks of developing critically ill COVID-19 and all-cause death either in overall patients or in patients without chronic kidney disease (P values < 0.05).

As a potential inflammatory marker, increasing baseline levels of serum cystatin C might independently predict adverse outcomes for COVID-19 patients.

Serum cystatin C could be routinely monitored during hospitalization, which showed clinical importance in prognosticating for adult patients with COVID-19.