New publications on COVID-19 (Kappert´s lab)

New publications on COVID-19 (Kappert´s lab).

The clinical course of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is very heterogeneous. In recent months, the Kappert working group addressed questions regarding the pathognomy of COVID-19 in several publications and evaluated laboratory parameters with regard to their use for prognostic assessment and risk stratification.

In collaboration between the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Benjamin Franklin Campus of the Charité and the Kappert working group (Experimental Laboratory Medicine), several scientific data related to COVID-19 were published. The pro-inflammatory mediator calprotectin (S100A8/A9, MRP 8/14) was shown to be a prognostically relevant marker in patients with COVID-19 - especially for multi-organ failure ¹. Furthermore, serum cell adhesion molecules were quantified at an early stage of suspected COVID-19, i.e. when patients present to the emergency department. VCAM-1 was shown to be elevated not only in COVID-19 patients compared with uninfected/healthy controls, but also compared with non-COVID-19 patients who had suspected and symptoms as in COVID-19 but in whom SARS-CoV-2 infection was ruled out ². Furthermore, detailed analyses of coagulation were performed in patients with COVID-19 compared with those with negative SARS-CoV-2 results in the emergency department. Common coagulation abnormalities were detected in patients with COVID-19, including elevation of D-dimers. However, the comparison cohort in the emergency department showed largely similarly altered coagulation. In addition, parameters previously shown to discriminate between severe and moderate COVID-19 courses, such as platelets, plasminogen, fibrinogen, aPTT, INR, and antithrombin, as well as several non-routine coagulation analytes, did not significantly differ between patients with and without COVID-19 at presentation to the emergency department. Thus, on admission to the emergency department, the prevalence of coagulopathy in patients with COVID-19, although high, is comparable to a non-COVID-19 cohort who presented with comparable symptoms ³.

In addition, contributions were made on the use of new hematological parameters to differentiate the severity of COVID-19 ⁴, on the delayed antibody and T-cell response to BNT162b2 in the elderly compared to health care workers ⁵, and on the immunogenicity of COVID-19 tozinameran vaccination in patients with chronic dialysis ⁶. Last, a detailed review on the relevance of the iron storage protein ferritin in COVID-19 was published ⁷.

1. Outcome prediction by serum calprotectin in patients with COVID-19 in the emergency department.
Bauer W, Diehl-Wiesenecker E, Ulke J, Galtung N, Havelka A, Hegel JK, Tauber R, Somasundaram R, Kappert K.
J Infect. 2021 Apr;82(4):84-123

2. Role of Cell Adhesion Molecules for Prognosis of Disease Development of Patients With and Without COVID-19 in the Emergency Department. Bauer W, Ulke J, Galtung N, Strasser-Marsik LC, Neuwinger N, Tauber R, Somasundaram R, Kappert K.
J Infect Dis. 2021 Apr 23;223(8):1497-1499.

3. A Matter of Caution: Coagulation Parameters in COVID-19 Do Not Differ from Patients with Ruled-Out SARS-CoV-2 Infection in the Emergency Department.
Bauer W, Galtung N, Neuwinger N, Kaufner L, Langer E, Somasundaram R, Tauber R, Kappert K.
TH Open. 2021 Feb 6;5(1):e43-e55.

4. Severe COVID-19 Is Marked by a Dysregulated Myeloid Cell Compartment.
Schulte-Schrepping J, Reusch N, Paclik D, Baßler K, Schlickeiser S, Zhang B, Krämer B, Krammer T, Brumhard S, Bonaguro L, De Domenico E, Wendisch D, Grasshoff M, Kapellos TS, Beckstette M, Pecht T, Saglam A, Dietrich O, Mei HE, Schulz AR, Conrad C, Kunkel D, Vafadarnejad E, Xu CJ, Horne A, Herbert M, Drews A, Thibeault C, Pfeiffer M, Hippenstiel S, Hocke A, Müller-Redetzky H, Heim KM, Machleidt F, Uhrig A, Bosquillon de Jarcy L, Jürgens L, Stegemann M, Glösenkamp CR, Volk HD, Goffinet C, Landthaler M, Wyler E, Georg P, Schneider M, Dang-Heine C, Neuwinger N, Kappert K, Tauber R, Corman V, Raabe J, Kaiser KM, Vinh MT, Rieke G, Meisel C, Ulas T, Becker M, Geffers R, Witzenrath M, Drosten C, Suttorp N, von Kalle C, Kurth F, Händler K, Schultze JL, Aschenbrenner AC, Li Y, Nattermann J, Sawitzki B, Saliba AE, Sander LE; Deutsche COVID-19 OMICS Initiative (DeCOI).
Cell. 2020 Sep 17;182(6):1419-1440.e23.

5. Delayed Antibody and T-Cell Response to BNT162b2 Vaccination in the Elderly, Germany.
Schwarz T, Tober-Lau P, Hillus D, Helbig ET, Lippert LJ, Thibeault C, Koch W, Landgraf I, Michel J, Bergfeld L, Niemeyer D, Mühlemann B, Conrad C, Dang-Heine C, Kasper S, Münn F, Kappert K, Nitsche A, Tauber R, Schmidt S, Kopankiewicz P, Bias H, Seybold J, von Kalle C, Jones TC, Suttorp N, Drosten C, Sander LE, Corman VM, Kurth F.
Emerg Infect Dis. 2021 Jun 8;27(8). doi: 10.3201/eid2708.211145. Online ahead of print.

6. Immunogenicity of COVID-19 Tozinameran Vaccination in Patients on Chronic Dialysis.
Schrezenmeier E, Bergfeld L, Hillus D, Lippert JD, Weber U, Tober-Lau P, Landgraf I, Schwarz T, Kappert K, Stefanski AL, Sattler A, Kotsch K, Dörner T, Sander LE, Budde K, Halleck F, Kurth F, Corman VM, Choi M.
Front Immunol. 2021 Jun 30;12:690698.

7. Assessment of serum ferritin as a biomarker in COVID-19: bystander or participant? Insights by comparison with other infectious and non-infectious diseases.
Kappert K, Jahić A, Tauber R.
Biomarkers. 2020 Dec;25(8):616-625

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