Prognostic value of growth differentiation factor 15 in COVID-19

We carried out an electronic search in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, with the keywords ‘GDF-15’ OR ‘Growth Differentiation Factor-15’ AND ‘coronavirus disease 2019’ OR ‘COVID-19’ OR ‘SARS-CoV-2’ within all search fields and without language or date restrictions (i.e. up to January 17, 2022), to identify all articles in which GDF-15 has been assayed in patients with COVID-19 and correlated with disease severity. The electronic search based on the above-mentioned criteria enabled the identification of 18 documents after eliminating duplicates among the three scientific databases. Although the range of GDF-15 values were very broad, in all investigations its concentration appeared always significantly higher in COVID-19 patients with severe illness that in those without. The WMD of GDF-15 was 2420 (974-3866) ng/L with quality effects model (high heterogeneity; I2=99%) and was confirmed as high as 2541 (95%CI, 1195-3887) ng/L using the random effects model. Cumulatively, GDF-15 values were found to be increased by 78% (95%CI, 31–125%) in COVID-19 patients with severe illness compared to those without. Taken together, our findings would hence suggest that routine GDF-15 measurement may offer clinical significance for stratifying the individual risk of respiratory failure and other complications in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.