Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Activity in SARS-CoV-2 Infected Noncritically Ill Hospitalized Patients

This study determined the baseline hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis hormonal levels and their associated factors in noncritically ill hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

This cross-sectional study was carried out in 91 noncritical RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patients (aged 18 to 65 years) recruited consecutively from the COVID unit of two tertiary care hospitals over a period of six months. After the screening, relevant history and physical examinations were done, and blood was drawn between 07:00 am to 09:00 am in a fasting state to measure serum cortisol and plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) by chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay.

Of 91 patients, 54, 26, and 11 had mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19, respectively. Median values of serum cortisol (p = 0.057) and plasma ACTH (p = 0.910) were statistically similar among the severity groups. Considering a cortisol cut-off of 276 nmol/L (<10 μg/dL), the highest percent of adrenal insufficiency was present in severe (27.3%), followed by mild (25.9%) and least in the moderate (3.8%) COVID-19 cases. Using the cortisol/ACTH ratio >15, only 6.6% had enough reserve.

The adrenocortical response was compromised in a significant percentage of noncritically ill hospitalized patients with COVID-19, with the highest percentage of adrenal insufficiency present in severely infected cases. The HPA axis parameters of serum cortisol, plasma ACTH and cortisol/ACTH were similar across the severity of noncritical patients with COVID-19.