Impact of correction of homocisteinemia on clinical outcomes of lung damage associated with COVID-19 coronavirus infection

Aim. To assess the effect of serum homocysteine levels on treatment outcomes in patients with COVID19-associated lung damage, depending on the use of folic acid in complex treatment.

Materials and methods. An open, prospective comparative study included 71 hospitalized adult patients with COVID-19-associated lung disease who did not require mechanical ventilation. The main group included 51 patients who received folic acid 15 mg per day in a complex treatment in a fixed combination with pyridoxine hydrochloride and cyanocobalamin. The comparison group included 20 patients in whose therapy folic acid was not used.

Results. The use of folic acid was accompanied by a decrease in serum homocysteine concentration by 2.120 (-0.230; 3.680) µmol/L (p=0.004). When constructing a logistic regression model, the effect of a decrease in serum homocysteine (OR 1.289; 95% CI 1.026‒1.620; p=0.029), methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase MTHFR C677T genotype (OR 10.897; 95% CI 1.240‒95.772; p=0.031) on the achievement of 7th day of hospitalization, the cessation of isolation of SARS-CoV-2 virus RNA from the respiratory tract. Multiple linear regression analysis showed an association between the duration of hypoxemic respiratory failure, determined with SaO₂≤93%, with the degree of change in serum homocysteine concentration after treatment, single nucleotide polymorphisms of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase MTHFR C677T, methionine synthase MTR A2756G and methionine synthase reductase MTRR A66G, initial volume of lung damage ≥50% according to CT data, indicators of D-dimers, C-reactive protein, hemoglobin, platelets, concomitant hypertension, diabetes mellitus (R=0.699; R²=0.489; p=0.005).

Conclusion. The dynamics of the decrease in serum homocysteine after treatment is an important predictor of the cessation of isolation from the respiratory tract of the SARS-CoV-2 virus RNA on the 7th day of treatment, reducing the duration of hypoxemic respiratory failure in patients with lung damage associated with COVID-19 infection.

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