Monocyte Distribution Width (MDW) as novel inflammatory marker with prognostic significance in COVID-19 patients

Autor: Giovanni Riva, Sara Castellano, Vincenzo Nasillo, Anna Maria Ottomano, Giuliano Bergonzini, Ambra Paolini, Beatrice Lusenti, Jovana Milić, Sara De Biasi, Lara Gibellini, Andrea Cossarizza, Stefano Busani, Massimo Girardis, Giovanni Guaraldi, Cristina Mussini, Rossella Manfredini, Mario Luppi, Enrico Tagliafico, Tommaso Trenti
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2021)
ISSN: 2045-2322
Popis: Background: Monocyte Distribution Width (MDW), a new cytometric parameter correlating with cytomorphologic changes occurring during massive monocyte activation, has recently been described as promising early biomarker of sepsis. Similar to sepsis, in SARS-CoV-2-associated disease (COVID-19) monocyte/macrophage subsets are considered key mediators of the life-threatening hyper-inflammatory disorder –commonly defined as ‘cytokine storm’– which is part of the complex infection-associated immune dysregulation observed in severe COVID-19 cases (possibly constituting a kind of viral sepsis). Therefore, in this work, we aimed at investigating, for the first time, possible roles of MDW testing in the monitoring of COVID-19 patients.Methods: We longitudinally measured MDW values (readily available along with automated blood cell count) in a cohort of 87 patients with COVID-19 diagnosis, consecutively admitted to our clinics in early 2020, due to aggravation of their clinical status. Statistical analyses were then applied to correlate MDW values with inflammatory markers, disease severity, clinical trajectories and final outcome.Results: We initially found significant direct correlations between MDW and different inflammatory markers routinely assessed during hospitalization, namely CRP (pConclusions: Our pilot study shows that MDW can be useful in the monitoring of COVID-19 patients, as this innovative hematologic biomarker is (i) easy and rapid to obtain, (ii) directly related to the activation state of a fundamental inflammatory cell subset (i.e. monocytes, pivotal in both cytokine storm and sepsis immunopathogenesis), (iii) well correlated with clinical severity of COVID-19-associated inflammatory disorder, and, in turn, (iv) endowed with relevant prognostic significance. Additional studies are needed to define further the clinical impact of MDW testing in the management of COVID-19 patients.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz: