Osteopontin as a biomarker for COVID-19 severity and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children: A pilot study. Issue 2 (January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Reisner, Andrew; Blackwell, Laura S; Sayeed, Iqbal; Myers, Hannah E; Wali, Bushra; Heilman, Stacy; Figueroa, Janet; Lu, Austin; Hussaini, Laila; Anderson, Evan J; Shane, Andi L; Rostad, Christina A
• Is Part Of: Experimental biology and medicine. Volume 247:Issue 2(2022)
• Page Start: 145
• Page End: 151
• Publication Date: 2022-01
• Subjects: COVID-19 -- biomarker -- osteopontin -- pediatrics -- MIS-C -- SARS-CoV-2; Physiology -- Periodicals; Biology, Experimental -- Periodicals; Medicine, Experimental -- Periodicals; 610.72
• DOI: 10.1177/15353702211046835
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1535-3702

Abstract

This study sought to evaluate the candidacy of plasma osteopontin (OPN) as a biomarker of COVID-19 severity and multisystem inflammatory condition in children (MIS-C) in children. A retrospective analysis of 26 children (0–21 years of age) admitted to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta with a diagnosis of COVID-19 between March 17 and May 26, 2020 was undertaken. The patients were classified into three categories based on COVID-19 severity levels: asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic (control population, admitted for other non-COVID-19 conditions), mild/moderate, and severe COVID-19. A fourth category of children met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's case definition for MIS-C. Residual blood samples were analyzed for OPN, a marker of inflammation using commercial ELISA kits (R&D), and results were correlated with clinical data. This study demonstrates that OPN levels are significantly elevated in children hospitalized with moderate and severe COVID-19 and MIS-C compared to OPN levels in mild/asymptomatic children. Further, OPN differentiated among clinical levels of severity in COVID-19, while other inflammatory markers including maximum erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein and ferritin, minimum lymphocyte and platelet counts, soluble interleukin-2R, and interleukin-6 did not. We conclude OPN is a potential biomarker of COVID-19 severity and MIS-C in children that may have future clinical utility. The specificity and positive predictive value of this marker for COVID-19 and MIS-C are areas for future larger prospective research studies.