Does COVID-19 infection alter serum biochemical and hematological biomarkers in deceased dementia patients?

Abstract

The elderly population is categorized as a risk group for COVID-19 infection, and dementia is the primary cause of disability in elderly individuals and affects 70 % of the elderly population. In this study, we evaluated the blood and serum biomarkers of deceased dementia patients infected by COVID-19 compared to the survived dementia and non-dementia patients. Laboratory biomarkers of 11 dementia patients infected by COVID-19 have been used for this study. The five patients’ serum biochemistry and blood data were compared with the six patients who died because of COVID-19. Additionally, data from nine patients aged 85–96 infected with COVID-19 without dementia have been used to compare the difference between dementia and non-dementia individuals. D-dimer, C-reactive protein (CRP), glucose, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), troponin, procalcitonin, red cell distribution width (RDW), white blood cell (WBC), neutrophil (NEU) and %NEU levels significantly increased in the deceased dementia patients compared to the survived and non-dementia individuals. Calcium (Ca), hematocrit (HCT), red blood cells (RBC), lymphocyte (%LYM), monocyte %MONO, and basophil (%BASO) levels significantly decreased in the deceased dementia patients compared to the survived and non-dementia individuals infected by COVID-19. Serum biochemistry and hematological biomarkers, including D-dimer, CRP, glucose, ALT, AST, BUN, troponin, procalcitonin, RDW, RBC, WBC, NEU, %NEU, Ca, HCT, %LYM, %MONO, and %BASO were significantly altered in deceased dementia patients infected by COVID-19 compared to the survived individuals.