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Updated: Aug 17, 2025

Dynamic Monitoring of Seroconversion using a Multianalyte Immunobead Assay for Covid-19
Published on: February 16, 2022
Serum 25-hydroxycholesterol levels are increased in patients with coronavirus disease 2019
Takumi Asano1, Tetsuji Wakabayashi1, Yasuyuki Kondo1
1Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke, Tochigi, Japan (Drs Asano, Wakabayashi, Kondo, Okada, Yamamuro, Koga, Oka, Sakurai, Sawayama, Takahashi, Okazaki, Ebihara and Ishibashi).
Background:
25-hydroxycholesterol (25HC), produced by cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (CH25H) in macrophages, has been reported to inhibit the replication of viral pathogens such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2. Also, CH25H expression in macrophages is robustly induced by interferons (IFNs).
Objective:
To better understand the serum level increase of 25HC in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and how it relates to the clinical picture.
Methods:
We measured the serum levels of 25HC and five other oxysterols in 17 hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
Results:
On admission, 25HC and 27-hydroxycholesterol (27HC) serum levels were elevated; however, 7-ketocholesterol (7KC) levels were lower in patients with COVID-19 than in the healthy controls. There was no significant correlation between 25HC serum levels and disease severity markers, such as interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and interleukin 6. Dexamethasone effectively suppressed cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (CH25H) mRNA expression in RAW 264.7 cells, a murine leukemia macrophage cell line, with or without lipopolysaccharide or IFNs; therefore, it might mitigate the increasing effects of COVID-19 on the serum levels of 25HC.
Conclusions:
Our results highlighted that 25HC could be used as a unique biomarker in severe COVID-19 and a potential therapeutic candidate for detecting the severity of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
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