Prognostic tools and candidate drugs based on plasma proteomics of patients with severe COVID-19 complications
Nature Communications, 2022
Al-Nesf M., Abdesselem H., Bensmail I., Ibrahim S., Saeed W., Mohammed S., Razok A., Alhussain H., Aly R., Al Maslamani M., Ouararhni K., Khatib M., Hssain A., Omrani A., Al-Kaabi S., Al Khal A., Al-Thani A., Samsam W., Farooq A., Al-Suwaidi J., Al-Maadheed M., Al-Siddiqi H., Butler A., Decock J., Mohamed-Ali V., Al-Ejeh F.
| Disease area | Application area | Sample type | Products |
|---|---|---|---|
Infectious Diseases | Pathophysiology Patient Stratification | Plasma |  Olink Target 96 |
Abstract
COVID-19 complications still present a huge burden on healthcare systems and warrant predictive risk models to triage patients and inform early intervention. Here, we profile 893 plasma proteins from 50 severe and 50 mild-moderate COVID-19 patients, and 50 healthy controls, and show that 375 proteins are differentially expressed in the plasma of severe COVID-19 patients. These differentially expressed plasma proteins are implicated in the pathogenesis of COVID-19 and present targets for candidate drugs to prevent or treat severe complications. Based on the plasma proteomics and clinical lab tests, we also report a 12-plasma protein signature and a model of seven routine clinical tests that validate in an independent cohort as early risk predictors of COVID-19 severity and patient survival. The risk predictors and candidate drugs described in our study can be used and developed for personalized management of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients.