Systemic hypoferremia and severity of hypoxemic respiratory failure in COVID-19
Akshay Shah, Joe N. Frost, Louise Aaron, Killian Donovan, Hal Drakesmith, Collaborators, Stuart McKechnie, Simon Stanworth
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020 Risk factors associated with respiratory failure in patients with COVID-19 include older age, neutrophilia and elevated inflammatory and coagulation markers Inflammation is often accompanied by systemic hypoferremia and low iron levels may impair hypoxia sensing and immunity [2], and increase the risk of thromboembolic complications [3]-which are all of significant concern in COVID-19. However, the iron status of COVID-19 patients is unclear. Therefore, we sought to characterise iron parameters, including serum iron, in COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) patients and relate these to disease severity.