Cholesterol and COVID-19: Findings from lipid profile of patients with SARS-COV-2 infection

Background and Aims: At the moment COVID-19 is the most relevant global health problem. It seems that during SARS-CoV-2 infection total cholesterol (TC), LDL-C, and HDL-C values decrease. In our clinical practice we frequently observed alterations of the lipid profile in patients with COVID-19. This study aims to evaluate whether SARS-CoV-2 infection could be actually involved in the determining of lipid profile alterations, and to study the possible correlation of TC, LDL-C, HDL-C lowering and disease severity and/or clinical outcome. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of the 118 patients who required hospitalization to Internal Medicine Unit of Chieti University Hospital (Italy) for COVID-19 between March and May 2020. We compared pre-infection lipid values collected from our laboratory exams software (53 of the 118 patients enrolled) to those measured on admission. Results: Preliminary Median values showed on admission for COVID-19 were: TC 136.89±42.73 mg/dl, LDL-C 81.53±30.35 mg/dl, HDL-C 32,36±15.13 mg/dl and triglycerides 115±40.45 mg/dl (p=0.001, p<0.001 respectively). Median values of pre-infection total cholesterol and HDL-C were significantly higher than those measured on admission. C-reactive protein negatively correlated with LDL-C and HDL-C (p=0.036). No significant influence of lipid alterations on clinical outcome was highlighted. Conclusions: Such results pointed out the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on TC and HDL-C, with the lowest values of LDL-C and HDL-C that are more likely to be detected at the highest inflammatory state in COVID-19 patients. It remains to better define a possible role for lipid metabolism and eventually for statins in the clinical and therapeutic approach to COVID-19.