Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 18, 2025
Author Spotlight: Advancing the Analysis of Plasma Extracellular Vesicle Proteome for Cardiovascular Biomarker Studies
Published on: January 31, 2025
Plasma Proteomic Profiling Yields a High-Performance Biomarker Panel for Predicting a Poor Prognosis in Patients with
Zhijin Zhang1, Huqin Yang1, Leyi Gao1
1Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Institute of Respiratory Medicine and Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100020, China.
Insights
Researchers developed a new plasma biomarker panel to predict COVID-19 mortality. This panel, including interleukin 8 and osteoprotegerin, shows promise in identifying patients at high risk of death during hospitalization.
Area of Science:
- * Medicine
- * Immunology
- * Proteomics
Background:
- * The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for accurate tests to predict disease severity and mortality.
- * Traditional clinical assessments often lack sufficient predictive power for short-term mortality in severe COVID-19 cases.
Purpose of the Study:
- * To identify reliable biomarkers for predicting in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients.
- * To develop and validate a novel plasma biomarker panel for COVID-19 mortality prediction.
Main Methods:
- * Plasma proteomics using the Olink platform was performed on samples from COVID-19 patients (fatal, severe, moderate/mild) and healthy controls.
- * Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and logistic regression were used to assess biomarker accuracy.
- * A novel biomarker panel was developed and validated in an independent external cohort.
Main Results:
- * 75 proteins were found to be differentially expressed among the four groups, indicating immune system dysregulation in fatal COVID-19.
- * A novel plasma biomarker panel, including interleukin 8 and osteoprotegerin, demonstrated strong predictive value (AUC 0.791 and 0.781).
- * The panel's predictive capability was successfully validated in an external cohort.
Conclusions:
- * Standardized proteomic assays can yield a reliable prediction panel for COVID-19 mortality.
- * The developed biomarker panel can aid in predicting mortality during hospitalization for COVID-19 patients.
- * This tool can assist clinicians in risk stratification and management of COVID-19 patients.
Abstract:
Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic increased the demand for reliable tests to predict disease severity and mortality. Methods In training cohort, we obtained traditional clinical data and plasma proteomics performed using the Olink proteomics platform from 52 fatal COVID-19 cases (COVID-19-F), 50 severe COVID-19 cases (COVID-19-S), 55 moderate/mild COVID-19 cases (COVID-19-M), and 54 healthy controls. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and logistic regression were applied to judge the accuracy of biomarkers to predict in-hospital mortality and build combined panel. An independent external cohort was used for validation. Results In total, 19 clinical parameters and 92 proteins were assessed. Traditional clinical indices did not show adequate predictive value of short-term mortality in severe COVID-19. In proteomics analysis, 75 proteins were differentially expressed among the four groups. Pathway analysis revealed an imbalance of inflammatory responses and excessive immunity in COVID-19-F. Subsequently, a novel plasma biomarker panel (including interleukin 8 and osteoprotegerin) was developed, with AUC values of 0.791 and 0.781 when comparing COVID-19-F to COVID-19-M or COVID-19-S, respectively. The predictive power of the panel was verified in an external cohort. Conclusions Our standardized assays yielded a prediction panel of mortality during hospitalization in patients with COVID-19.
