Calprotectin and SARS-CoV-2: A Brief-Report of the Current Literature

Giuffrè, Mauro; Vetrugno, Luigi; Di Bella, Stefano; Moretti, Rita; Berretti, Debora; Crocè, Lory Saveria

In late December 2019, a novel coronavirus (lately referred to as SARS-CoV-2) spread in the city of Wuhan, China, causing an outbreak of unusual viral pneumonia. In many people, the disease is mild and self-limiting, but in a considerable number of patients, the disease may present more severe or even fatal. Therefore, determining which patients are at higher risk of developing a more severe disease is critical. Some studies have been focused on serum and fecal calprotectin to evaluate COVID-19 disease progression and possible complications. Some assumptions can be made: (1) serum calprotectin may efficiently predict the prognosis of COVID-19 patients; (2) fecal calprotectin may appear high in COVID-19 patients due to the double hit mechanism to the intestine (inflammatory and ischemic); (3) a relationship between the complement system and neutrophil activation contributes to the procoagulant status seen in COVID-19 patients; (4) some patients may develop severe gastro-intestinal complications and fecal calprotectin can be used to monitor intestinal disease activity levels.