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Publications

Journal Article Ppublish

PubMed: 39625772 DOI: 10.5811/westjem.18586

Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of SCUBE-1 in COVID-19 Patients.

West J Emerg Med 25(6):975-984

Authors: Vildan Ozer, Ozgen Gonenc Cekic, Ozlem Bulbul, Davut Aydın, Eser Bulut, Firdevs Aksoy, Mehtap Pehlivanlar Kucuk, Suleyman Caner Karahan, Ebru Emel Sozen, Esra Ozkaya, Polat Kosucu, Yunus Karaca, Suleyman Turedi

Affiliations

  • Karadeniz Technical University, School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Trabzon, Türkiye.
  • SBU Kanuni Training and Research Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Trabzon, Türkiye.
  • SBU Kanuni Training and Research Hospital, Department of Chest Diseases, Division of Intensive Care Medicine, Trabzon, Türkiye.
  • SBU Kanuni Training and Research Hospital, Department of Radiology, Trabzon, Türkiye.
  • Karadeniz Technical University, School of Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Trabzon, Türkiye.
  • Karadeniz Technical University, School of Medicine, Department of Chest Diseases, Division of Intensive Care Medicine, Trabzon, Türkiye.
  • Karadeniz Technical University, School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry, Trabzon, Türkiye.
  • SBU Kanuni Training and Research Hospital, Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Trabzon, Türkiye.
  • Karadeniz Technical University, School of Medicine, Department of Medical Microbiology, Trabzon, Türkiye.
  • Karadeniz Technical University, School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Trabzon, Türkiye.

Abstract

Introduction

The workload of physicians increased due to the number of patients presenting with suspicion of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) and the prolonged wait times in the emergency department during the COVID-19 pandemic. Signal peptide-CUB-EGF domain-containing protein 1 (SCUBE-1) is a protein present in platelets and endothelial cells; it is activated by inflammation from COVID-19 and may be associated with COVID-19's known thrombotic risk. We aimed to determine whether SCUBE-1 levels are diagnostically correlated in suspected COVID-19 patients, and whether SCUBE-1 correlated with severity of disease and, therefore, might be useful to guide hospitalization/discharge decisions.

Methods

The suspected COVID-19 patients cared for at tertiary healthcare institutions for one year between May 2021-May 2022 were examined in this study. The subjects were both suspected COVID-19 patients not ultimately found to have COVID-19 and those who were diagnosed with COVID-19. By modifying the disease severity scoring systems present in COVID-19 guidelines in 2021, the COVID-19-positive patient group was classified as mild, moderate, severe, and critical, and compared using the SCUBE-1 levels. Moreover, SCUBE-1 levels were compared between the COVID-19 positive group and the COVID-19 negative group.

Results

A total of 507 patients were considered for the present study. After excluding 175 patients for incomplete data and alternate comorbid organ failure. we report on 332 patients (65.5%). Of these 332 patients, 80 (24.0%) were COVID-19 negative, and 252 (76.0%) were COVID-19 positive. Of 252 (100%) patients diagnosed with COVID-19, 74 (29.4%) were classified as mild, 95 (37.7%) moderate, 45 (17.8%) severe, and 38 (15.1%) critical. The SCUBE-1 levels were statistically different between COVID-19 positive (8.48 ± 7.42 nanograms per milliliter [ng/mL]) and COVID-19 negative (1.86 ± 0.92 ng/mL) patients ( < 0.001). In the COVID-19 positive group, SCUBE-1 levels increased with disease severity (mild = 3.20 ± 1.65 ng/mL, moderate = 4.78 ± 2.26 ng/mL, severe = 13.68 ± 3.95 ng/mL, and critical = 21.87 ± 5.39 ng/mL) ( < 0.001). The initial SCUBE-1 levels of discharged patients were significantly lower than those requiring hospitalization (discharged = 2.89 ng/mL [0.55-8.60 ng/mL]; ward admitted = 7.13 ng/mL [1.38-21.29 ng/mL], and ICU admitted = 21.19 ng/mL [10.58-37.86 ng/mL]) ( < 0.001).

Conclusion

The SCUBE-1 levels were found to be differentiated between patients with and without COVID-19 and to be correlated with the severity of illness.

MeSH

Hospitalization, Covid-19