ArticleInternational journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases2022
Low transferrin levels predict heightened inflammation in patients with COVID-19: New insights.
Article in International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Associations of Iron Related Biomarkers with Risk, Clinical Severity and Mortality in SARS-CoV-2 Patients: A Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2022Pooled it
- Hepatic control of immunometabolism: implications for the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of rheumatic diseases.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2026Review
- Association of transferrin levels with clinical outcomes in ANCA-associated vasculitis.Clinical rheumatology · 2026Article
- Low serum transferrin predicts adverse outcome in COVID-19 and is related to coagulation activity.British journal of haematology · 2026Article
- Plasma Ceramides Levels in Severe COVID-19 Disease: Correlations with Survival.Open forum infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Association between serum transferrin and overall survival in cancer patients: a multi-center cohort study.BMC cancer · 2026Observational
- Proteomics-based monitoring of heatstroke recovery identifies molecular signatures of organ stress.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- Evaluation of the Diagnostic and Predictive Significance of Postoperative C-Reactive Protein to Transferrin or Albumin Ratio in Identifying Septic Events Following Major Abdominal Surgery.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Exploring the role of mitochondrial dysfunction and aging in COVID-19-Related neurological complications.Molecular biology reports · 2025Review
- Prognostic impact of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and vascular access in patients on chronic hemodialysis.Journal of nephrology · 2025Article
- The long-term effects of COVID-19 on oxygen carrying capacity in adults at the University of Limpopo, South Africa.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Pre‑partum blood leukocyte profiles distinguish gestational inflammatory stages that predict birth‑related adverse outcomes.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Melatonin: a ferroptosis inhibitor with potential therapeutic efficacy for the post-COVID-19 trajectory of accelerated brain aging and neurodegeneration.Molecular neurodegeneration · 2024Review
- Potential Laboratory Markers in COVID-19 Patients with Gastrointestinal Impairments as Prognosticators of the Disease Severity.Tanaffos · 2024Article
- Scrutinizing Clinical Biomarkers in a Large Cohort of Patients with Lyme Disease and Other Tick-Borne Infections.Microorganisms · 2024Article
- Reduced HDL-cholesterol in long COVID-19: A key metabolic risk factor tied to disease severity.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2024Article
- Iron metabolism and chronic inflammation in IgA nephropathy.Renal failure · 2023Review
- The utility of serum amyloid A and other acute-phase reactants determination in ambulatory care COVID-19 patients.Journal of medical biochemistry · 2023Article
- Iron and iron-related proteins in COVID-19.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2023Review
- Links between Vitamin K, Ferroptosis and SARS-CoV-2 Infection.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesMounting evidence links hyperinflammation in gravely ill patients to low serum iron levels and hyperferritinemia. However, little attention has been paid to other iron-associated markers such as transferrin. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of different iron parameters in severe COVID-19 and their relation to disease severity. SUBJECTS AND
methodsThis study involved 73 hospitalized patients with positive test results for SARS-CoV-2. Patients were classified into two groups according to symptom severity: mild and severe. Blood levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, interleukin 6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), and iron-related biomarkers were measured.
resultsThe results revealed a significant increase in IL-6, CRP, and ferritin levels and decreased transferrin and iron levels in severe COVID-19. Transferrin negatively predicted variations in IgM and IgG levels (P < 0.001), as well as 34.4% and 36.6% increase in IL-6 and CRP levels, respectively (P < 0.005). Importantly, transferrin was the main negative predictor of ferritin levels, determining 22.7% of serum variations (P < 0.001).
conclusionReduced serum transferrin and iron levels, along with the increased CRP and high ferritin, were strongly associated with the heightened inflammatory and immune state in COVID-19. Transferrin can be used as a valuable predictor of increased severity and progression of the disease.
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