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

Table 3 Clinical and demographic characteristics of patients with type 2 diabetes, with mild or moderate versus severe or critical coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia

	Mild-moderate COVID-19 pneumonia, n = 34	Severe-critical COVID-19 pneumonia, n = 31	P value
Age (yr), mean (SD)	58.6 (10.0)	61.2 (8.1)	0.261
Median (IQR)	59.5 (50.8-65.3)	63 (57.0-67.0)
Sex, female, n (%)	20 (58.8)	12 (38.7)	0.142
Population group, n (%)			1.002
Jews	10 (29.4)	10 (32.3)
Arabs	24 (70.6)	21 (67.7)
BMI (kg/m2), mean (SD)	31.4 (3.8)	32.8 (5.2)	0.221
Median (IQR)	31.2 (28.9-33.6)	31.7 (29.3-36.1)
Diabetes duration (yr), median (IQR)	9.5 (4.8-12.5)	11 (7-17)	0.133
eGFR (mL/min/1.73 m2 body surface area) at baseline, median	90.4 (74.9-105.5)	93.3 (76.0-100.3)	0.783
HbA1C (%), median (IQR)	7.4 (6.6-9.1)	7.4 (6.6-9.4)	0.933
Metformin, n (%)	30 (88.2)	26 (83.9)	0.734
DPP-4, n (%)	10 (29.4)	8 (25.8)	0.792
Sulfonylurea, n (%)	5 (14.7)	2 (6.5)	0.434
SGLT2 inhibitors, n (%)	11 (32.4)	7 (22.6)	0.422
GLP-1 agonists, n (%)	5 (14.7)	7 (22.6)	0.532
Basal insulin, n (%)	8 (23.5)	10 (32.3)	0.582
Prandial insulin, n (%)	3 (8.8)	3 (9.7)	1.004
Current smoking, n (%)	4 (11.8)	0 (0)	0.124
No albuminuria, n (%)	21 (61.8)	24 (77.4)	0.192
			2-sided
			0.142
			1-sided
Albuminuria < 30 mg/g, n (%)	13 (38.2)	7 (22.6)	0.1453
			2-sided
Albuminuria 30-300 mg/g, n (%)	8 (23.5)	6 (19.4)	0.0733
Albuminuria > 300 mg/g, n (%)	5 (14.7)	1 (3.2)	1-sided
Retinopathy, n (%)	4 (16.7)	3 (13.6)	1.004
NLRmax median (IQR)	2.7 (1.7-8.5)	9.2 (5.7-15.4)	< 0.0013
CRP (mg/L) at admission, median (IQR)	15.4 (5.1-80.9)	122.1 (70.8-177.2)	< 0.0013
CRPmax (mg/L) at hospitalization, median (IQR)	15.4 (5.1-86.2)	142.3 (87.1-205.1)	< 0.0013
eGFR (mL/min/1.73 m2 body surface area) at hospitalization, median (IQR)	91.2 (76.0-105.0)	93.3 (76.5-100.3)	0.903
Albumin (g/dL), mean (SD)	3.8 (0.4)	3.3 (0.4)	< 0.0011
Median (IQR)	3.9 (3.6-4.1)	3.3 (3.1-3.5)

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.