tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
J Clin Med
. 2023 Jul 18;12(14):4737.
doi: 10.3390/jcm12144737. Utility of Serum Ferritin for Predicting Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Patients with Long COVID
Yukichika Yamamoto[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yuki Otsuka[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Kazuki Tokumasu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Naruhiko Sunada[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yasuhiro Nakano[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Hiroyuki Honda[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yasue Sakurada[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Toru Hasegawa[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Hideharu Hagiya[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Fumio Otsuka[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Objective: The most common symptom of post-acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is fatigue, and it potentially leads to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS); however, a specific prognosticator is lacking. We aimed to elucidate the clinical characteristics of patients who developed ME/CFS after COVID-19.
Methods: In this retrospective observational study, patients who visited Okayama University Hospital for long COVID between February 2021 and March 2022 were investigated.
Results: Of the 234 patients, 139 (59.4%) had fatigue symptoms. Fifty patients with fatigue symptoms (21.4%) met the criteria for ME/CFS (ME/CFS group), while the other 89 patients did not (non-ME/CFS group); 95 patients had no fatigue complaints (no-fatigue group). Although the patients' backgrounds were not significantly different between the three groups, the ME/CFS group presented the highest scores on the self-rating symptom scales, including the Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS), EuroQol, and the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS). Furthermore, serum ferritin levels, which were correlated with FAS and SDS scores, were significantly higher in the ME/CFS group (193.0 μg/L, interquartile range (IQR): 58.8-353.8) than in the non-ME/CFS group (98.2 μg/L, 40.4-251.5) and no-fatigue group (86.7 μg/L, 37.5-209.0), and a high serum ferritin level was prominent in female patients. Endocrine workup further showed that the ME/CFS group had higher thyrotropin levels but lower growth hormone levels in serum and that insulin-like growth factor-I levels were inversely correlated with ferritin levels (R = -0.328, p < 0.05).
Conclusions: Serum ferritin level is a possible predictor of the development of ME/CFS related to long COVID, especially in female patients.
Keywords: COVID-19; ferritin; insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I); long COVID; myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).
. 2023 Jul 18;12(14):4737.
doi: 10.3390/jcm12144737. Utility of Serum Ferritin for Predicting Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Patients with Long COVID
Yukichika Yamamoto[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yuki Otsuka[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Kazuki Tokumasu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Naruhiko Sunada[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yasuhiro Nakano[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Hiroyuki Honda[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yasue Sakurada[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Toru Hasegawa[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Hideharu Hagiya[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Fumio Otsuka[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 37510852
- PMCID: PMC10381392
- DOI: 10.3390/jcm12144737
Objective: The most common symptom of post-acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is fatigue, and it potentially leads to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS); however, a specific prognosticator is lacking. We aimed to elucidate the clinical characteristics of patients who developed ME/CFS after COVID-19.
Methods: In this retrospective observational study, patients who visited Okayama University Hospital for long COVID between February 2021 and March 2022 were investigated.
Results: Of the 234 patients, 139 (59.4%) had fatigue symptoms. Fifty patients with fatigue symptoms (21.4%) met the criteria for ME/CFS (ME/CFS group), while the other 89 patients did not (non-ME/CFS group); 95 patients had no fatigue complaints (no-fatigue group). Although the patients' backgrounds were not significantly different between the three groups, the ME/CFS group presented the highest scores on the self-rating symptom scales, including the Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS), EuroQol, and the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS). Furthermore, serum ferritin levels, which were correlated with FAS and SDS scores, were significantly higher in the ME/CFS group (193.0 μg/L, interquartile range (IQR): 58.8-353.8) than in the non-ME/CFS group (98.2 μg/L, 40.4-251.5) and no-fatigue group (86.7 μg/L, 37.5-209.0), and a high serum ferritin level was prominent in female patients. Endocrine workup further showed that the ME/CFS group had higher thyrotropin levels but lower growth hormone levels in serum and that insulin-like growth factor-I levels were inversely correlated with ferritin levels (R = -0.328, p < 0.05).
Conclusions: Serum ferritin level is a possible predictor of the development of ME/CFS related to long COVID, especially in female patients.
Keywords: COVID-19; ferritin; insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I); long COVID; myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).