Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology (Nov 2021)

Prognostic Potential of Liver Enzymes in Patients With COVID-19 at the Leishenshan Hospital in Wuhan

  • Zeming Liu,
  • Di Hu,
  • Jinpeng Li,
  • Qing Xia,
  • Yan Gong,
  • Zhengwei Li,
  • Qian Wu,
  • Meilin Yi,
  • Yihui Huang,
  • Meng Wu,
  • Liang Guo,
  • Xiaohui Wu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2021.636999
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

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BackgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has evolved into a pandemic. We hypothesized that biochemical indicators of liver function may help determine the prognosis of COVID-19 patients.MethodsPatient information was collected from the Wuhan-Leishenshan hospital. Logistic and Cox regression analyses, Kaplan-Meier curves, and Curve fitting were used to determine the correlation between elevated levels of aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), and AST/ALT and severity of disease/mortality.ResultsLogistic and Cox regression analyses and Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that COVID-19 progression correlated with elevated levels of AST and AST/ALT. The odds ratios for elevated levels of AST and AST/ALT in patients were 0.818 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.274-2.441, P = 0.035) and 2.055 (95% CI: 1.269-3.327, P = 0.003), respectively; the hazard ratios were 4.195 (95% CI: 1.219-14.422, P = 0.023) and 3.348 (95% CI: 1.57-7.139, P = 0.002), respectively. The Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrated that patients with elevated AST and AST/ALT levels had a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19.ConclusionElevated AST and AST/ALT levels correlated with severity of COVID-19 and mortality. Liver function tests may help clinicians in determining the prognosis of patients undergoing treatment for COVID-19.

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