Salivary Ferritin Changes in Patients with COVID-19

Lorena Franco-Martínez, José J. Cerón, María R. Vicente-Romero, Enrique Bernal, Alberto Torres Cantero, Fernando Tecles, Cristina Sánchez Resalt, Mónica Martínez, Asta Tvarijonaviciute and Silvia Martínez-Subiela
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Lorena Franco-Martínez: Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Analysis, Interlab-UMU, Regional Campus of International Excellence ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
José J. Cerón: Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Analysis, Interlab-UMU, Regional Campus of International Excellence ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
María R. Vicente-Romero: Unit of Microbiology, Hospital General Universitario Reina Sofía, Universidad de Murcia, 30003 Murcia, Spain
Enrique Bernal: Unit of Infectious Diseases, Hospital General Universitario Reina Sofía, Universidad de Murcia, 30003 Murcia, Spain
Alberto Torres Cantero: Preventive Medicine, Hospital Clínico Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, IMIB, Universidad de Murcia, 30120 Murcia, Spain
Fernando Tecles: Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Analysis, Interlab-UMU, Regional Campus of International Excellence ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Cristina Sánchez Resalt: Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Analysis, Interlab-UMU, Regional Campus of International Excellence ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Mónica Martínez: Unit of Infectious Diseases, Hospital General Universitario Reina Sofía, Universidad de Murcia, 30003 Murcia, Spain
Asta Tvarijonaviciute: Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Analysis, Interlab-UMU, Regional Campus of International Excellence ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Silvia Martínez-Subiela: Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Analysis, Interlab-UMU, Regional Campus of International Excellence ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 19, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: High ferritin serum levels can be found in patients with macrophage activation syndrome, and increased serum ferritin due to cytokine storm have been reported in severe COVID-19 patients. Saliva is being increasingly used in COVID-19 tests as a diagnostic sample for virus detection and quantification. This study aimed to evaluate the possible changes in ferritin in saliva in COVID-19 patients. In addition, the effects of different inactivation SARS-CoV-2 treatments in ferritin measurements in saliva, the correlation between ferritin in saliva and serum, and the possible effects of correction of ferritin values by total protein were assessed. Ferritin was measured in saliva from healthy ( n = 30) and COVID-19 ( n = 65) patients with severe, ( n = 18) or mild ( n = 47) disease, depending on the need for nasal flow oxygen or assisted respiration. Ferritin was also measured in paired serum and saliva samples ( n = 32) from healthy and COVID-19 patients. The evaluated inactivation protocols did not affect the assay’s results except the addition of 0.5% SDS. Significantly higher ferritin was found in the saliva of COVID-19 patients (median; 25–75th percentile) (27.75; 9.77–52.2 µg/L), compared with healthy controls (4.21; 2.6–8.08 µg/L). Individuals with severe COVID-19 showed higher ferritin values in saliva (48.7; 18.7–53.9) than mild ones (15.5; 5.28–41.3 µg/L). Significant correlation (r = 0.425; p < 0.001) was found between serum and saliva in ferritin. Ferritin levels were higher in COVID-19 patients in serum and saliva, and the highest values were found in those patients presenting severe symptomatology. In conclusion, ferritin in saliva has the potential to be a biomarker to evaluate severity in patients with COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; ferritin; non-invasive sample; biomarker (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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