Serum periostin levels in COVID‐19: Is it useful as a new biomarker?

Cabalak, Mehmet; DoÄŸan, Serdar; Bal, Tayibe; Dikmen, Nursel

OBJECTIVES: Severe disease characterised by interstitial pneumonia may develop in some cases of coronavirus disease (COVID‐19). Periostin has been associated with many respiratory diseases. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether periostin could be a useful new biomarker in the follow‐up and severity assessment of the disease in patients with COVID‐19 pneumonia. METHODS: In the study, 32 patients followed up during May to July 2020 because of COVID‐19 and 24 healthy controls were included. The patients were divided into two groups, namely, mild/moderate and severe, according to the severity of the disease. Serum periostin and transforming growth factor beta (TGF‐β) levels were tested using an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method using commercially available ELISA kits. RESULTS: It was observed that the periostin level was significantly higher in both mild/moderate cases and severe cases compared with the control group at first presentation. However, TGF‐β levels at first presentation were similar between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The current manuscript may be the first one performing periostin ELISA on COVID serum, and we believe that periostin can be used as a new biomarker.