AUTHOR=Vásquez-Procopio Johana , Espejel-Nuñez Aurora , Torres-Torres Johnatan , Martinez-Portilla Raigam Jafet , Espino Y. Sosa Salvador , Mateu-Rogell Paloma , Ortega-Castillo Veronica , Tolentino-Dolores Maricruz , Perichart-Perera Otilia , Franco-Gallardo José Osman , Carranco-Martínez José Alberto , Prieto-Rodríguez Scarleth , Guzmán-Huerta Mario , Missirlis Fanis , Estrada-Gutierrez Guadalupe TITLE=Inflammatory-Metal Profile as a Hallmark for COVID-19 Severity During Pregnancy JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology VOLUME=10 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cell-and-developmental-biology/articles/10.3389/fcell.2022.935363 DOI=10.3389/fcell.2022.935363 ISSN=2296-634X ABSTRACT=

Pregnancy makes women more susceptible to infectious agents; however, available data on the effect of SARS-CoV-2 on pregnant women are limited. To date, inflammatory responses and changes in serum metal concentration have been reported in COVID-19 patients, but few associations between metal ions and cytokines have been described. The aim of this study was to evaluate correlations between inflammatory markers and serum metal ions in third-trimester pregnant women with varying COVID-19 disease severity. Patients with severe symptoms had increased concentrations of serum magnesium, copper, and calcium ions and decreased concentrations of iron, zinc, and sodium ions. Potassium ions were unaffected. Pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, TNF-α, IL-8, IL-1α, anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-4, and the IP-10 chemokine were induced in the severe presentation of COVID-19 during pregnancy. Robust negative correlations between iron/magnesium and zinc/IL-6, and a positive correlation between copper/IP-10 were observed in pregnant women with the severe form of the disease. Thus, coordinated alterations of serum metal ions and inflammatory markers – suggestive of underlying pathophysiological interactions—occur during SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy.