The Association of Prolactin and CRP Biomarkers with the Severity of COVID-19 in Thumbay Hospital, Ajman, UAE

Background: This study aimed to estimate the levels of CRP and PRL in SARS-CoV2 infection and their association with the severity of COVID-19 among patients in Ajman, UAE. Methods and Results: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Thumpay Hospital from 2020 to 2021. The study included 71 patients (55 males and 16 females) with positive SARS-CoV-2 test results. Nasal swab specimens were collected for the COVID-19 test on the day of admission or after one day of admission. COVID-19 diagnoses and severity levels were determined according to the New Coronavirus Pneumonia Prevention and Control Program (7th edition) published by the National Health Commission of China (2020). Serum samples were collected from the patients upon admission. The PRL level was determined using the immune chemiluminescent method by the DXI 800 Beckman Coulter analyzer. The CRP level was determined using the immunoturbidimetric method by the DXC 700 AU chemistry analyzer. Among 71 COVID-19 patients, the great majority were men 55(77.5%), 38(53.5%) being of Indian nationality. In this study, most participants (50.7%) had no history of chronic illnesses. In terms of COVID-19 severity, 24(33.8%) of patients had mild cases, 27(38.0%) had moderate cases, and 20(28.2%) had severe cases. Twenty (28.2%) patients were transferred to the ICU, and 19(26.8%) were intubated. The patients' average age was 47.58±13.63, CRP level - 74.30±71.46 mg/L, and PRL level - 205.1946±168.52 ng/mL. The mean CRP level was highest in severe cases, compared to mild and moderate cases, with a statistically significant difference between mild and severe groups (P=0.000) and mild and moderate groups (P=0.004). The mean PRL level was highest in severe cases compared to mild and moderate cases; however, the differences between the groups were not significant. CRP and PRL levels were greater in the ICU patients than non-ICU patients, with statistically significant differences only for CRP. We found a moderate positive correlation between CRP level and age (r=0.458, P=0.000); a weak positive correlation between PRL level and age was not statistically significant (r=0.201, P=0.093). A moderate positive correlation between CRP level and PRL level (r=0.461, P=0.03) was statistically significant. Conclusion: The current study implies that serum CRP levels might be an important indication of COVID-19 development and severity. A more extensive study with a larger sample size is needed to validate the significance of PRL in disease severity

Association of TNF–α rs1800629 with Adult Acute B-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia

TNF–α influences lymphomagenesis by upregulating proinflammatory and antiapoptotic pathways. In this study, we evaluated the frequency of TNF–α rs1800629 (–308 G>A) polymorphism in newly diagnosed adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and its correlation with age at diagnosis, gender and subtype of ALL. In this case control study, a total of 330 individuals were recruited, including 165 newly diagnosed adult patients with ALL, from the Radiation and Isotope Center in Khartoum (RICK) and 165 healthy normal controls. TNF–α rs1800629 polymorphism was tested through allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. The frequency of the rs1800629 GA genotype was high (70.9% vs. 60%, OR = 1.84) in the patient group as compared to healthy controls, whereas GG and AA genotypes did not exhibit any statistically significant difference between controls and patients. Based on subtype, GG and GA rs1800629 genotypes showed increased risk of B-ALL (OR 0.46 and 2.12, respectively), whereas rs1800629 GG, GA and AA genotypes did not show any disease association with T-ALL (p > 0.05). Age at diagnosis and gender did not exhibit any association of rs1800629 with ALL in the patient group. In conclusion, rs1800629 is associated with high risk of adult B-ALL, with an insignificant effect of age at diagnosis and gender