Key result
Serum GDF-15 levels were significantly higher in children with COVID-19 compared to healthy controls (median 614.23 vs 144.66 pg/mL) and correlated with disease severity and cardiac manifestations.
Why the study?
COVID-19 causes cytokine-mediated inflammation and cardiovascular manifestations, and the study aimed to evaluate serum GDF-15 in children with COVID-19 and correlate it with disease severity, cardiac affection, and clinical outcomes.
Does serum GDF-15 level correlate with disease severity and cardiac manifestations in children with COVID-19?
Cross-Sectional (n=144)
No
Does serum GDF-15 level correlate with disease severity and cardiac manifestations in children with COVID-19?
Serum GDF-15 is significantly elevated in children with COVID-19 and correlates with disease severity, mortality, and cardiac manifestations such as reduced ejection fraction.
Should not yet change pediatric COVID-19 risk stratification; leaves open GDF-15’s incremental value for cardiac manifestations.
BACKGROUND: COVID-19 leads to severe overwhelming inflammation in some patients mediated by various cytokines (cytokine storm) that usually leads to severe illness accompanied by cardiovascular manifestations. Growth differentiation factor-15 is a cytokine induced by stress and is associated with inflammatory processes in the lung and heart. This study aimed to measure the level of serum growth differentiation factor (GDF-15) in children with COVID-19 and to correlate it with the disease severity, cardiac affection, and the outcome of COVID-19. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 144 children; 72 children diagnosed with COVID-19, and 72 healthy children. The severity of COVID-19 was assessed clinically, laboratory, and radiologically. Echocardiography was done within 48 h of admission for COVID-19 patients. Serum GDF-15 was measured by ELISA for both patients and controls. RESULTS: Serum GDF-15 level was significantly higher in patients with COVID-19 than in controls (p < 0.01). In COVID-19 patients with severe clinical grading, those who were hospitalized in the PICU, and those who died, serum GDF-15 levels were greater. individuals with cardiac manifestations exhibited significantly higher serum GDF-15 levels than individuals without them. In children with COVID-19, increased GDF-15 was correlated to poorer ejection fraction and higher INR using multivariate linear regression analysis. CONCLUSION: Serum GDF-15 is a promising biomarker of COVID-19, it can be used as a predictor of cardiac manifestations in children with COVID-19 and severe disease.
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Ishak et al. (2023) conducted a cross-sectional in COVID-19 (n=144). COVID-19 infection vs. Healthy children was evaluated on Serum GDF-15 level (pg/mL) (p=<0.001). Serum GDF-15 levels were significantly higher in children with COVID-19 compared to healthy controls (median 614.23 vs 144.66 pg/mL) and correlated with disease severity and cardiac manifestations.
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