THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DYSLIPIDEMIA AND THE RISK OF COVID 19 INFECTION

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has become a worldwide public health problem. Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, chronic heart and lung diseases increase the risk of development of COVID-19 infection and severe COVID-19 disease. In this study; we aimed to investigate whether hyperlipidemia alone increases the risk of development of COVID-19 infection.MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred-thirty four patients who were hospitalized with the diagnosis of COVID-19 and did not have any chronic disease and one hundred-twenty-two healthy controls were included in this study. The average of the lipid values of the patient group in the last 6 months before admission was calculated. Likewise, the average of the lipid parameters of the control group in the last 6 months was taken.RESULTS: There were no differences between two groups with regard to age, gender, and laboratory characteristics. Triglyceride and Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol values were significantly higher and High-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were significantly lower in the COVID-19 patients compared to the control subjects (p < 0.01).CONCLUSIONS: Although research on the association of dyslipidemia with COVID-19 is still insufficient, our findings show that serum cholesterol levels are significantly associated with the risk of COVID-19 infection.