Baseline moderate-range albuminuria is associated with protection against severe COVID-19 pneumonia

Table 1 Clinical and demographic characteristics of patients with type 2 diabetes, with and without coronavirus disease 2019 infection

	Patients without COVID-19 infection, n = 144	Patients with COVID-19 infection, n = 65	P value
Age (yr), mean (SD)	63.9 (9.9)	59.8 (9.2)	0.0051
Median (IQR)	65 (57-71)	61 (53-66)
Sex, female, n (%)	50 (34.7)	32 (49.2)	0.0662
Population group, n (%)			0.0672
Jews	63 (44.7)	20 (30.8)
Arabs	78 (55.3)	45 (69.2)
BMI (kg/m2), mean (SD)	30.7 (5.9)	32.1 (4.6)	0.091
Median (IQR)	30.3 (27.4-33.8)	31.6 (29.1-34.7)
Diabetes duration (yr), median (IQR)	13 (8-17.8)	10 (5.5-14.5)	0.0313
eGFR (mL/min/1.73 m2 body surface area) at baseline, median (IQR)	85.4 (62.2-97.6)	91.9 (75.3-101.0)	0.0333
HbA1c (%), median (IQR)	7.6 (6.5-9.1)	7.4 (6.6-9.1)	1.003
Metformin, n (%)	110 (76.9)	56 (86.2)	0.142
DPP-4 inhibitors, n (%)	29 (20.1)	18 (27.7)	0.282
Sulfonylurea, n (%)	8 (5.6)	7 (10.8)	0.254
SGLT2 inhibitors, n (%)	36 (25.0)	18 (27.7)	0.732
GLP-1 agonists, n (%)	25 (17.4)	12 (18.5)	1.002
Basal insulin, n (%)	60 (41.7)	18 (27.7)	0.0642
Prandial insulin, n (%)	30 (21.0)	6 (9.2)	0.0472
Current smoking, n (%)	48 (33.3)	4 (6.2)	< 0.0012
No albuminuria, n (%)	65 (45.1)	45 (69.2)	0.0022
Albuminuria < 30 mg/g, n (%)	79 (54.9)	20 (30.8)	0.0053
Albuminuria 30-300 mg/g, n (%)	65 (45.1)	14 (21.5)
Albuminuria > 300 mg/g, n (%)	14 (9.7)	6 (9.2)
Retinopathy, n (%)	21 (21.4)	7 (15.2)	0.502
NLRmax at hospitalization, median (IQR)	4.0 (2.5-7.8)	6.5 (2.6-10.0)	0.123
CRP (mg/L) at admission, median (IQR)	9.7 (4.8-45.4)	71.8 (12.2-145.9)	< 0.0013
CRPmax (mg/L) at hospitalization, median (IQR)	11.3 (5.2-68.1)	86.6 (12.2-167.6)	< 0.0013
eGFR (mL/min/1.73 m2 body surface area) at hospitalization, median (IQR)	86.0(62.2-96.0)	92.1(76.2-100.8)	0.0303
Albumin, median (IQR)	3.8 (3.4-4.0)	3.6(3.2-3.9)	0.0261

¹Independent sample t-test.

²Chi-square test.

³Mann-Whitney test.

⁴Fisher’s exact test.

COVID-19: Coronavirus disease 2019; IQR: Interquartile range; BMI: Body mass index; HbA1c: Glycosylated hemoglobin; eGFR: Estimated glomerular filtration rate; DPP-4: Dipeptidyl-peptidase 4; SGLT2: Sodium/glucose cotransporter 2; GLP-1: Glucagon-like peptide 1; NLR_max: Maximum neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio; CRP: C-reactive protein; CRP_max: Maximum C-reactive protein.