Introduction

Covid-19 infection was declared a global pandemic by WHO on March 11, 2020. GRP78 protein is known to be involved in the intrusion of numerous viruses. Our current study tries to provide some insight into the variation of GRP78 protein levels in patients with Covid-19 (−) pneumonia, Covid-19 (+) pneumonia, and CT negative Covid-19 infection in comparison to the normal population through a larger number of cases.

Materials and methods

42 patients who have Covid-19 (−) pneumonia; 72 patients who have Covid-19 infection (30 pneumonia,42 CT negative patients) and 30 patient who have no known diseases (control group) have included in the study after the clinical and radiological evaluation. Serum GRP78 levels of the subjects were measured through a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit.

Results

The GRP78 level was found to be significantly higher in the Covid-19 infection group than both Covid-19 (−) pneumonia and control group (p = 0.031 and p = 0.0001, respectively).No significant difference was evident between Covid-19 (−) pneumonia, Covid-19 (+) pneumonia and CT negative Covid 19 infection groups with respect to GRP78 levels (p = 0.09). In addition, the GRP78 levels were significantly higher in the Covid-19 (−) pneumonia group than the control group (p = 0.0001).

Conclusion

This prospective case-control study reveals that the serum GRP78 levels significantly increased during Covid-19 infection in comparison to both the Covid-19 (−) pneumonia and the control group. As the association between SARS-CoV-2 virus and GRP78 protein is revealed more clearly, this association may come to the fore as a therapeutic target.

中文翻译：

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Covid-19 感染中的高 GRP78 水平：病例对照研究

介绍

2020 年 3 月 11 日，WHO 宣布 Covid-19 感染为全球大流行病。已知 GRP78 蛋白参与多种病毒的入侵。我们目前的研究试图通过更大的样本量来深入了解 Covid-19 (−) 肺炎、Covid-19 (+) 肺炎和 CT 阴性 Covid-19 感染患者与正常人群相比 GRP78 蛋白水平的变化案件数量。

材料和方法

42 名患有 Covid-19 (−) 肺炎的患者；72 名 Covid-19 感染患者（30 名肺炎患者，42 名 CT 阴性患者）和 30 名没有已知疾病的患者（对照组）在经过临床和放射学评估后纳入研究。通过市售的酶联免疫吸附测定 (ELISA) 试剂盒测量受试者的血清 GRP78 水平。

结果

发现 Covid-19 感染组的 GRP78 水平显着高于 Covid-19 (-) 肺炎和对照组（分别为p  = 0.031 和p  = 0.0001）。Covid-19 之间没有明显差异（ −) 肺炎、Covid-19 (+) 肺炎和 CT 阴性 Covid 19 感染组的 GRP78 水平 ( p  = 0.09)。此外，Covid-19 (-) 肺炎组的 GRP78 水平明显高于对照组 ( p  = 0.0001)。

结论

这项前瞻性病例对照研究表明，与 Covid-19 (−) 肺炎和对照组相比，Covid-19 感染期间血清 GRP78 水平显着升高。随着 SARS-CoV-2 病毒与 GRP78 蛋白之间的关联被更清楚地揭示，这种关联可能会成为治疗靶点。