Atherogenic Dyslipidemia on Admission Is Associated With Poorer Outcome in People With and Without Diabetes Hospitalized for COVID-19

OBJECTIVE Identifying metabolic factors associated with critical disease can help to improve management of patients hospitalized for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). High triglycerides and low HDL levels characterize the atherogenic dyslipidemia closely related to insulin resistance and diabetes. We examined associations of atherogenic dyslipidemia detected on admission with outcome of COVID-19 during hospitalization. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We retrospectively analyzed clinical reports of 118 consecutive patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in Rome, Italy, between March and May 2020. Clinical characteristics, inflammation markers, and glucose and lipid metabolism parameters at admission were collected. Critical disease was defined as in-hospital death or need for endotracheal intubation. Associations were tested using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS Patients with critical COVID-19 (n = 43) were significantly older than those with noncritical disease (n = 75) and presented higher levels of fasting glucose, triglycerides, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, procalcitonin, and d-dimer (P < 0.01 for all), whereas HDL levels were lower (P = 0.003). Atherogenic dyslipidemia was more frequent in patients with critical COVID-19 (46 vs. 24%, P = 0.011), as well as diabetes (37 vs. 19%, P = 0.026), and significantly associated with death or intubation (odds ratio 2.53 [95% CI 1.16-6.32], P = 0.018). Triglycerides were significantly associated with selected inflammatory biomarkers (P < 0.05 for all) and poorer outcome of COVID-19 during hospitalization in both the overall population and the subgroup with atherogenic dyslipidemia. CONCLUSIONS Atherogenic dyslipidemia detected on admission can be associated with critical in-hospital course of COVID-19. Further investigations are needed to elucidate the hypothetical role of insulin resistance and related lipid abnormalities in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pathogenesis. Assessment of lipid profile should be encouraged in patients hospitalized for COVID-19.