Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33126054›Full record

Trial reportRedox biology2021

Prediction of survival odds in COVID-19 by zinc, age and selenoprotein P as composite biomarker.

Raban Arved Heller, Qian Sun, Julian Hackler, Julian Seelig, Linda Seibert, Asan Cherkezov, Waldemar B Minich, Petra Seemann, Joachim Diegmann, Maximilian Pilz and 4 more

Open access · goldAbstract readClinical Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Redox biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 104 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
104citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
18.5field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

104 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 176 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. COVID-19 and Selenium Deficiency: a Systematic Review.Biological trace element research · 2022
    Pooled it
  6. Trial
  7. Trial
  8. Article
  9. Serum zinc level independently predicts need for inpatient intubation among patients hospitalized with COVID-19: A prospective observational study.Nutrition in clinical practice : official publication of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition · 2026
    Observational
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Trace Elements in Medicinal Metallomics.Mini reviews in medicinal chemistry · 2025
    Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. What do we know about micronutrients in critically ill patients? A narrative review.JPEN. Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition · 2025
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Observational
  19. Article
  20. Article

44 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Raban Arved HellerInstitute for Experimental Endocrinology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, And Berlin Institute of Health, D-13353, Berlin, Germany; HTRG, Heidelberg Trauma Research Group, Center for Orthopedics, Trauma Surgery and Spinal Cord Injury, Heidelberg University Hospital, D-69118, Heidelberg, Germany; Department of General Practice and Health Services Research, University Hospital Heidelberg, D-69120, Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: raban.heller@charite.de.
Qian SunInstitute for Experimental Endocrinology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, And Berlin Institute of Health, D-13353, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: qian.sun@charite.de.
Julian HacklerInstitute for Experimental Endocrinology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, And Berlin Institute of Health, D-13353, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: julian.hackler@charite.de.
Julian SeeligInstitute for Experimental Endocrinology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, And Berlin Institute of Health, D-13353, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: julian.seelig@charite.de.
Linda SeibertATORG, Aschaffenburg Trauma and Orthopedic Research Group, Center for Orthopedics, Trauma Surgery and Sports Medicine, Hospital Aschaffenburg-Alzenau, D-63739, Aschaffenburg, Germany. Electronic address: linda-glaab@t-online.de.
Asan CherkezovATORG, Aschaffenburg Trauma and Orthopedic Research Group, Center for Orthopedics, Trauma Surgery and Sports Medicine, Hospital Aschaffenburg-Alzenau, D-63739, Aschaffenburg, Germany. Electronic address: asan.cherkezov@stud-mail.uni-wuerzburg.de.
Waldemar B MinichInstitute for Experimental Endocrinology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, And Berlin Institute of Health, D-13353, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: waldemar.minich@charite.de.
Petra SeemannInstitute for Experimental Endocrinology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, And Berlin Institute of Health, D-13353, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: petra.seemann@charite.de.
Joachim DiegmannATORG, Aschaffenburg Trauma and Orthopedic Research Group, Center for Orthopedics, Trauma Surgery and Sports Medicine, Hospital Aschaffenburg-Alzenau, D-63739, Aschaffenburg, Germany. Electronic address: Joachim.Diegmann@klinikum-ab-alz.de.
Maximilian PilzInstitute of Medical Biometry and Informatics, Heidelberg University Hospital, Im Neuenheimer Feld 130.3, D-69120, Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: pilz@imbi.uni-heidelberg.de.
Manuel BachmannATORG, Aschaffenburg Trauma and Orthopedic Research Group, Center for Orthopedics, Trauma Surgery and Sports Medicine, Hospital Aschaffenburg-Alzenau, D-63739, Aschaffenburg, Germany. Electronic address: manuel.bachmann.md@gmail.com.
Alireza RanjbarDepartment of Allergy and Immunology, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran; Institute of Interventional Allergology und Immunology, Bonn, Cologne, Germany. Electronic address: alireza.ranjbar@web.de.
Arash MoghaddamATORG, Aschaffenburg Trauma and Orthopedic Research Group, Center for Orthopedics, Trauma Surgery and Sports Medicine, Hospital Aschaffenburg-Alzenau, D-63739, Aschaffenburg, Germany.
Lutz SchomburgInstitute for Experimental Endocrinology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, And Berlin Institute of Health, D-13353, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: lutz.schomburg@charite.de.
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin · DEKlinikum Aschaffenburg · DEHeidelberg University · DEMashhad University of Medical Sciences · IR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 infections cause the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and challenge the immune system with ongoing inflammation. Several redox-relevant micronutrients are known to contribute to an adequate immune response, including the essential trace elements zinc (Zn) and selenium (Se). In this study, we tested the hypothesis that COVID-19 patients are characterised by Zn deficiency and that Zn status provides prognostic information. Serum Zn was determined in serum samples (n = 171) collected consecutively from patients surviving COVID-19 (n = 29) or non-survivors (n = 6). Data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study were used for comparison. Zn concentrations in patient samples were low as compared to healthy subjects (mean ± SD; 717.4 ± 246.2 vs 975.7 ± 294.0 μg/L, P < 0.0001). The majority of serum samples collected at different time points from the non-survivors (25/34, i.e., 73.5%) and almost half of the samples collected from the survivors (56/137, i.e., 40.9%) were below the threshold for Zn deficiency, i.e., below 638.7 μg/L (the 2.5th percentile in the EPIC cohort). In view that the Se status biomarker and Se transporter selenoprotein P (SELENOP) is also particularly low in COVID-19, we tested the prevalence of a combined deficit, i.e., serum Zn below 638.7 μg/L and serum SELENOP below 2.56 mg/L. This combined deficit was observed in 0.15% of samples in the EPIC cohort of healthy subjects, in 19.7% of the samples collected from the surviving COVID-19 patients and in 50.0% of samples from the non-survivors. Accordingly, the composite biomarker (SELENOP and Zn with age) proved as a reliable indicator of survival in COVID-19 by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, yielding an area under the curve (AUC) of 94.42%. We conclude that Zn and SELENOP status within the reference ranges indicate high survival odds in COVID-19, and assume that correcting a diagnostically proven deficit in Se and/or Zn by a personalised supplementation may support convalescence.

Indexed as

AdultAgedAged, 80 and overAge FactorsCOVID-19Cross-Sectional StudiesDisease-Free SurvivalFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPredictive Value of TestsP-SelectinSARS-CoV-2Survival RateZincP-SelectinSELP protein, humanZincBiomarkerCOVID-19InflammationMicronutrientTrace element

Identifiers

PMID33126054
PMCPMC7574778
OpenAlexW3094061698

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.