Objectives:
Aim of this study was to evaluate hepcidin levels and its correlation with inflammatory markers, vitamin D levels as well as its effects on intensive care unit (ICU) mortality in critically ill coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients.
Materials and Methods:
Adult patients those were admitted to pandemic ICU between March 1st, 2021 and May 17th 2021 were prospectively included to the study. Hepcidin levels and inflammatory markers on day 1, 2, 3 and 7, admission vitamin D levels, length of ICU stay and ICU mortality were recorded and analysed.
Results:
Median age of patients was 60.5 (52.50-71.25) and 20 (66.7%) of them was male. It was observed that hepcidin levels and lymphocyte counts were increased significantly from day 1 to day 7 (p=0.01 and p<0.01, respectively). In contrast, C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalsitonin levels were decreased from day 1 to day 7 (p=0.01 and p<0.01, respectively). In the analysis admission hepcidin levels and inflammatory markers [IL-6 (p=0.61), CRP (p=0.82) and ferritin (p=0.27)], vitamin D (p=0.13) and iron level (p=0.90) was not correlated. There was no correlation between hepcidin levels and ICU mortality (p=0.95).
Conclusion:
In this study, hepcidin levels were above normal limits in critically ill COVID-19 patients. However, our findings do not support the use of hepcidin, IL6, serum ferritin, and vitamin D levels in predicting COVID-19 mortality.
Keywords: ICU, Hepcidin, Mortality
