The diagnostic value of serum KL-6 levels in COVID-19

LI Jing; LIU Ying; CHEN Jie; DENG Zhonghua; YUE Yanghua; CAO Youde

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Journal of Hunan Normal University(Medical Science) ›› 2023, Vol. 20 ›› Issue (4) : 87-90.

Clinical Medicine

The diagnostic value of serum KL-6 levels in COVID-19

LI Jing, LIU Ying, CHEN Jie, DENG Zhonghua, YUE Yanghua, CAO Youde

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Abstract

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of serum Krebs von den Lungen-6(KL-6) in patients with COVID-19. Methods A total of 51 COVID-19 patients who were admitted to Hunan Provincial People's Hospital from January to February 2023 were enrolled and classified into severe group (n=27) and non-severe group (n=24) according to the clinical classification criteria of the Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (Trial Version 10). In addition, 25 healthy individuals were included as the control group. Laboratory indicators were compared among the groups, and Pearson correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between variables. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to assess the diagnostic performance of KL-6 for COVID-19. Results In severe cases of COVID-19, procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP), and interleukin-6(IL-6) were significantly higher than in non-severe cases, while white blood cell count (WBC), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and KL-6 were significantly higher in both non-severe and severe cases compared to the control group. In severe cases, WBC, NLR, and KL-6 were significantly higher than in non-severe cases. There was a significant positive correlation between WBC, NLR, and KL-6. The severity of COVID-19 was positively correlated with serum KL-6 levels. The cutoff value of serum KL-6 for diagnosing severe COVID-19 was 362.65 U/mL, with a sensitivity of 70.4%, specificity of 95.8%, and a Youden index of 0.662. Conclusion Serum KL-6 concentration can be used for the diagnosis, differentiation, and severity assessment of COVID-19.

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conronavirus disease 2019 / krebs von den lungen-6 / diagnostic value

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LI Jing, LIU Ying, CHEN Jie, DENG Zhonghua, YUE Yanghua, CAO Youde. The diagnostic value of serum KL-6 levels in COVID-19[J]. Journal of Hunan Normal University(Medical Science). 2023, 20(4): 87-90

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