Thiol levels in mild or moderate covid-19 patients: A comparison of
variant and classic covid-19 cases
Abstract
Background: Various variants of the covid-19 have started to attract
attention recently. The clinical course of these variants and possible
predictive parameters are being investigated. This study aimed to
examine the relationship between thiol levels, which are indicators of
oxidative stress, and variant covid-19 types. Methods: In this
cross-sectional study, patients with a diagnosis of classic covid-19 and
patients with a diagnosis of variant covid-19 with mild and moderate
symptoms followed in the clinical observatory of Ankara city hospital
were included in the study group. The patients were divided into two
groups according to the covid-19 type as variant and classic covid-19,
and a healthy control group is added for comparison. A complete blood
count and thiol analysis are performed from the venous blood samples.
Obtained results were compared between groups, and the ROC analysis is
performed. Results: Thiol levels were significantly lower in patients
with a diagnosis of Covid-19 compared to the control group. In terms of
WBC, lymphocyte, neutrophil, NLR, ferritin and thiol parameters,
patients with variant covid-19 differed significantly from patients with
a classic covid-19 diagnosis. Thiol levels’ cut-off values to
distinguish between variant covid-19 patients and control group from
classical covid-19 patients were almost identical (423 and 422 µmol/L,
respectively). Conclusions: It seems possible to use thiol as a
sensitive, specific and cost-effective marker to suspect variant
covid-19 cases. Since this study is probably the first example in this
subject, it would form a basis for further studies. Keywords: Covid-19,
SARS-CoV-2, variant covid-19, thiol, oxidative stress.