Asprosin and Oxidative Stress Level in COVID-19 Patients

The global COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has created great problems in healthcare systems throughout the world. Although, just like other respiratory tract viral infections, it is a disease with pathophysiological processes associated in general with cytokine production, inflammation, cell death, and redox imbalance or oxidative stress, very little is known about the pathology. Also, in recent studies, the effect of asprosin, which has an important and complex role on metabolism, on COVID-19 is unknown. The aim of this study is to determine the level of asprosin, a new hormone that has the potential to affect many metabolic pathways such as glucose metabolism, in COVID-19 patients. In addition, it is to determine whether asprosin is associated with oxidative stress in COVID-19 patients.

Blood samples were taken from 30 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 confirmed with RT-PCR test and 30 healthy control subjects. The serum asprosin level was analyzed with ELISA, and total antioxidant status (TAS) and total oxidant status (TOS) levels with colorimetric analysis.

The asprosin and TAS levels were determined to be statistically significantly decreased in the COVID-19 patients, and the TOS and OSI levels were significantly increased.

It can be thought that a decrease in asprosin level in COVID-19 patients causes a decrease in metabolic activity, prevents sufficient energy production in patients, and therefore oxidative stress increases in patients.