Prognostic Value of Non-HDL Cholesterol in COVID-19 Pneumonia

In addition to coronary artery disease, non-high-density lipoprotein(non-HDL-C) provides short and long-term predictive information for many chronic inflammatory diseases such as stroke, hemodialysis, post-renal transplant, non-alcoholic hepatosteatosis, and human immunodeficiency virus.

This study examined the predictive value of non-HDL-C measured before SARS-CoV-2 for mortality in COVID-19 infection.

This study retrospectively included 1435 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and treated in the thoracic diseases ward in a single center between January 2020 and June 2022. All patients included in the study had clinical and radiological features and signs of COVID-19 pneumonia. The COVID-19 diagnosis of all patients was confirmed by a polymerase chain reaction studied from an oropharyngeal swab. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

The study patients, including 1435 subjects, were divided into 712 patients in the non-surviving group and 723 in the surviving group. While there was no difference between the groups regarding gender, there was a statistically significant age difference. The non-surviving group was older. Age, lactate dehydrogenase(LDH), C reactive protein(CRP), triglycerides, D-dimer, and non-HDL-C were independent risk factors for mortality in regression analyses. In correlation analysis, age, CRP, and LDH were positively correlated with non-HDL-C. In the ROC analysis, sensitivity for non-HDL-C was 61.6%, and specificity was 89.2%.

We believe that the non-HDL-C level studied before COVID-19 infection can be used as a prognostic biomarker for the disease.