Introduction

Inflammation plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of COVID-19. The virus triggers an immune response leading to the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and activation of immune cells, which can result in severe respiratory illness and organ damage in some patients.

Methods

We prospectively recruited patients suffering from COVID-19 infection and evaluated the potential of 20 selected biomarkers in order to predict patient outcome. To explore the immune function in COVID-19 patients we measured the level of 20 cytokine chemokine and growth factor.

Results

Our analysis was performed on a hospitalized prospective cohort of 301 patients with a mean age of 65.6 ± 14.5 y.o. (64.8% male), of which 40.9% were hospitalized in ICU during their hospital stay. Of interest we identified in separate models that IL-4; CXCL10; IL-6 and MCP-1 were associated with an increased risk of ICU admission and that IL-6 and MCP-1 were associated with an increased risk of death (p<0.0025). Multivariate models adjusted with cofactors identified that IL-1beta, IL-4, IL-6 and CD62E were associated with an increased risk of ICU admission and that IL-1beta, IL-6, IFN alpha and MCP-1 were associated with an increased risk of death (p<0.05).

Conclusion

Our study identifies that an increase in inflammatory biomarkers were associated with an increased risk of ICU admission and death in our prospective multicentric cohort of COVID-19 infected patients. Of interest, IL-1beta and IL-6 were associated with an increased risk of ICU admission and death underlying their correlation with the immune response.