{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T19:45:42Z","timestamp":1792093542847,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,2]],"date-time":"2022-11-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1667347200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"GEFACOVID2.0 research program coordinated by the Tor Vergata University of Rome"},{"name":"Fondazione Terzo Pilastro Internazionale"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presents a clinical spectrum that ranges from a mild condition to critical illness. Patients with critical illness present respiratory failure, septic shock and\/or multi-organ failure induced by the so called \u201ccytokine storm\u201d. Inflammatory cytokines affect iron metabolism, mainly inducing the synthesis of hepcidin, a hormone peptide not routinely measured. High levels of hepcidin have been associated with the severity of COVID-19. The aim of this study was to analyze, retrospectively, the levels of hepcidin in a group of COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Policlinico Tor Vergata of Rome, Italy. Thirty-eight patients from November 2020 to May 2021 were enrolled in the study. Based on the clinical outcome, the patients were assigned to two groups: survivors and non-survivors. Moreover, a series of routine laboratory parameters were monitored during the stay of the patients in the ICU and their levels correlated to the outcome. Statistical differences in the level of hepcidin, D-dimer, IL-6, LDH, NLR, neutrophils level, CRP, TNF-\u03b1 and transferrin were observed between the groups. In particular, hepcidin values showed significantly different median concentrations (88 ng\/mL vs. 146 ng\/mL) between survivors and non-survivors. In addition, ROC curves analysis revealed sensitivity and specificity values of 74% and 76%, respectively, at a cut-off of 127 (ng\/mL), indicating hepcidin as a good biomarker in predicting the severity and mortality of COVID-19 in ICU patients.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics12112665","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,3]],"date-time":"2022-11-03T03:11:21Z","timestamp":1667445081000},"page":"2665","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Evaluation of Hepcidin Level in COVID-19 Patients Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9943-9130","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marco","family":"Ciotti","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Virology Unit, Polyclinic Tor Vergata, Viale Oxford 81, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marzia","family":"Nuccetelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine, Polyclinic Tor Vergata, Viale Oxford 81, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3463-0268","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Massimo","family":"Pieri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine, Polyclinic Tor Vergata, Viale Oxford 81, 00133 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carlo Maria","family":"Petrangeli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Intensive Care Unit, Polyclinic Tor Vergata, Viale Oxford 81, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alfredo","family":"Giovannelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine, Polyclinic Tor Vergata, Viale Oxford 81, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4025-7882","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Terenzio","family":"Cosio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Dermatology Unit, Department of Systems Medicine, Polyclinic Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1252-6080","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luigi","family":"Rosa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, University of Rome \u201cLa Sapienza\u201d, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Piera","family":"Valenti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, University of Rome \u201cLa Sapienza\u201d, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francesca","family":"Leonardis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Intensive Care Unit, Polyclinic Tor Vergata, Viale Oxford 81, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jacopo Maria","family":"Legramante","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Emergency Medicine, Polyclinic Tor Vergata, Viale Oxford 81, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sergio","family":"Bernardini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine, Polyclinic Tor Vergata, Viale Oxford 81, 00133 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Emerging Technologies Division (ETD) of the International Federation Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC), 20159 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elena","family":"Campione","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dermatology Unit, Department of Systems Medicine, Polyclinic Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2512-4793","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marilena","family":"Minieri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine, Polyclinic Tor Vergata, Viale Oxford 81, 00133 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"270","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-020-2012-7","article-title":"A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin","volume":"579","author":"Zhou","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel (2021, October 19). 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