Markers of liver function as potential prognostic indicators of SARS-CoV-2 infection: A retrospective analysis during the first and second waves of COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is known to cause a predominant respiratory disease, although extrapulmonary manifestations can also occur. One of the targets of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the hepatobiliary system. The present study aims to describe the correlation between the increase of liver damage markers (i.e. alanine aminotransferase [ALT], aspartate aminotransferase [AST], total bilirubin [TB]) and COVID-19 outcomes (i.e., in-hospital mortality [IHM] and intensive care unit [ICU] transfer). METHODS: All patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection admitted to the Infectious Diseases Unit of the St. Anna University-Hospital of Ferrara from March 2020 to October 2021 were retrospectively included in this single-centre study. ALT, AST and TB levels were tested in all patients and IHM or ICU transfer were considered as main outcomes. Co-morbidities were assessed using Charlson Comorbidity Index. RESULTS: A total of 106 patients were retrieved. No hepatic marker was able to predict IHM, whereas all of them negatively predicted ICU transfer (ALT: OR 1.005, 95%CI 1.001–1.009, p= 0.011; AST: OR 1.018, 95%CI 1.006–1.030, p= 0.003; TB: OR 1.329, 95%CI 1.025–1.724, p= 0.032). Age was the only parameter significantly related to mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The present study, by correlating liver damage markers with COVID-19 outcome, showed that an increase of ALT, AST and TB predicted patients’ severity, although not mortality.