Krebs Von Den Lungen-6 (KL-6) As a Clinical Marker for Severe COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-analyses

Overview

Journal Virology

Specialty Microbiology

Date 2021 Dec 13

PMID 34896901

Citations 18

Authors

Nadereh Naderi

Mahsa Rahimzadeh

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) is a molecule that is predominantly expressed by damaged alveolar type II cells, and has been proposed as a marker of COVID-19 and the severity of the disease. Here, we performed a meta-analysis to determine whether KL-6 could be used as a prognostic factor for severe COVID-19.

Methods: PubMed, Cochrane and Google Scholar were searched until April 20, 2021, and 7 studies were included. KL-6 was considered as the outcome and pooled in meta-analyses.

Results: All included studies compared KL-6 in severe and non-severe patients. Serum KL-6 was higher in severe COVID-19 patients compared to non-severe (n = 6; SMD = 1.25; 95% CI: 0.99-1.5; P < 0.001) and healthy controls (n = 4; SMD = 3.07; 95% CI: 1.36-4.8; P < 0.001).

Conclusion: This data collection revealed the potential clinical significance of KL-6 as a non-expensive predictive biomarker in severe COVID-19 and for the categorization of COVID-19 clinical severity.

Citing Articles

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