Presenting Characteristics
All of the 317 cases in this study were confirmed as having SARS-CoV-2 infection. In total, 56.15% of the patients were female; however, gender differences were not statistically significant in the different groups(Table 1). The average age of 317 patients was 47.76(SD 17.22). A total of 48(15.14%) had a diagnosis of mild with a median age of 34(39.29±13.04), 116(36.59%) had a diagnosis of moderate with a median age of 34(38.78±12.32), 38(11.99%) had a diagnosis of severe with a median age of 56(58.24±15.12), and 115(36.28) had a diagnosis of critical with a median age of 59(56.89+17.09). The distribution of disease severity was completely different in the different ages. Patients younger than 40 years old were predominate among the mild and moderate cases. The majority of severe and critical patients were older than 50(Table 1).
Among the 317 cases, fever was the most common symptom at onset of illness, which consisted of a population of 211(66.56%). Other common symptoms were dry cough(129[40.69%]), fatigue(78[24.61%]), expectoration(67[21.14%]), and chest tightness(64[20.19%]). Pharyngalgia, myalgia, diarrhea, and headache were less common symptoms at onset of illness(Table 1). A total of 29 patients(9.15%) initially presented without any symptoms prior to laboratory findings and chest computed tomographic images. The incidences of fever and chest tightness were different in the different disease severities(Table 1).
Laboratory Parameters
Of the 317 patients, 175 of them had detail laboratory test results, including a blood routine, liver and kidney function, and immune function labs. As a patients’ condition got worse, their lymphocyte count significantly decreased, while C-reactive protein(CRP), lacrate dehydrogenase(LDH), and creatine kinase(CK) also increased significantly(Table 2). More importantly, the CD3(count and ratio), CD4(count and ratio), CD8(count and ratio), and CD19(count and ratio) of severe or critical patients were lower than that of the mild or moderate patients(Table 2). In addition, the severe or critical patients had higher levels of IgG than the mild or moderate patients (Table 2).
Screening for Independent Risk Factors and Constructing a Model for Predicting COVID-19 Progession
The 175 patients were divided into two groups according to disease severity. Mild and moderate patients were included in the Mild Group(no severe illness), and severe and critical patients were included in the Severe Group. The no severe illness survival time was obtained from suspicious or confirmed diagnosis cases to the time when the patient became severe or to the time of discharge or January 31. A total of 18 variables were considered to be risk factors using the univariate analysis(Cox regression)(P<0.05)(Table S1).The LASSO Cox regression and the multivariate Cox regression were further used to screen six independent risk factors(Figure 1A, 1B, and Table S2). A nomogram base of the six independent risk factors was established to predict the no severe illness survival rates of 0.5-week, 1-week, 2-weeks, and 3-weeks(Figure 1C). The c-index of this nomogram was 0.796(95%CI, 0.729-0.864). The calibration curves and the (area under the curve) AUC curve were used to verify the accuracy of this prediction model(Figure S1) which indicated that the predicted results are consistent with the actual results. The risk score was calculated using the multivariate Cox regression. The Severe Group had a higher risk score and lower no severe illness survival time and probability(Figure S2).
Impact of Independent Risk Factors on no Severe Illness Survival Time
The cutoff values of the six independent risk factors were calculated based on the risk score and the maximum Youden’s index. The sensitivity and specificity of the six independent risk factors are indicated in Table S3. COVID-19 patients with ages over 50 years, a blood CK greater than 64U/L, a blood CD4 cell count less than 461per/μL, or a blood CD8 cell count less than 241/μL had a very high risk of progression to severe. These patients also had a lower no severe illness survival probability than other patients(Figure 2). The CD8% and complement C3 were not included for AUC values lower than 7.0 or p-values greater than 0.05.
Comparison of the Predictive Value between CK, CD4, CD8 and MuLBSTA
The MuLBSTA score is used to predict mortality in viral pneumonia.10,11 Six indexes are included in the MuLBSTA score system. These are age, hypertension, smoking history, multilobular infiltration, bacterial co-infection, and lymphopenia.10,11 The MuLBSTA score, CK, CD4, and CD8 were used to predict the risk of severe cases in this study. The AUC values of MuLBSTA, CK, CD4, and CD8 were 0.753, 0.644, 0.802, and0.754, respectively. CD4-MuLBSTA(CD4 incorporated into MuLBSTA) had an AUC value of 0.833, and CD4-CD8-MuLBSTA(CD4 and CD8 incorporated into MuLBSTA) had an AUC value of 0.828(Table S4).
After CK, CD4 or CD8 were incorporated into the MuLBSTA score, the net reclassification index(NRI) and integrated discrimination improvement(IDI) were used to compare the predictive value between the different models(Table S5). It was found that the predictive ability of CK was lower than the original MuLBSTA model. The predictive ability of CD4, CD8, and CK-MuLBSTA had no significant differences with the original MuLBSTA model. The predictive ability of CD4-MuLBSTA, CD8-MuLBSTA, and CD4-CD8-MuLBSTA were better than the original MuLBSTA model(P<0.05). The predictive ability of the CD4-CD8-MuLBSTA model was improved by 11.87% compared with the MuLBSTA model, which was improved compared to the other models(Table S5).
Dynamic Profile of CK, CD4 and CD8 in COVID-19 Patients
To determine the significant clinical features of CK, CD4, and CD8 during COVID-19 progression, we tracked 25 mild or moderate patients hospitalized in February 5 and 6, 2020 in the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University. From day1 to day22, the dynamic changes in CK, CD4, and CD8 were recorded at three-day intervals. At the end of February 27, 2020, data from the two groups of patients with clinical courses were analyzed(Fig 3). Of the 25 patients, 4 patients progressed to severe or critical(Severe Group), and the remaining 21 patients had no progress, improved, or discharged(Mild Group). During hospitalization, the blood CK content in the Severe Group gradually increased. From the fifth laboratory test, the results began to show significant differences between the Severe Group and the Mild Group. The average CD4 cell count in the Severe Group began to decline significantly on the fourth day after onset of the disease. In the Severe Group, the CD8 cell count remained at a relatively low level after it dropped at day13. The CD4 and CD8 cell counts were relatively stable, but were at a high level in the Mild Group. The blood CK content in the Mild Group was relatively stable at a low level and fluctuated slightly near the cut-off point.