Effectiveness of adjunctive corticosteroid therapy in patients with severe COVID-19: A retrospective cohort study

Table 3 Comparison of laboratory variables at different follow-up points in patients with severe coronavirus disease-19

Variables	Corticosteroid group		Non-corticosteroid group
	D 0	D 14	D 0	D 14
Heart rate (bpm)	84 ± 16	80 ± 16	88 ± 15	74 ± 6b
Respiratory rate	24 ± 12	20 ± 2	20 ± 2	20 ± 2
MAP (mmHg)	90 ± 10	87 ± 11	91 ± 12	82 ± 21b
Body temperature (℃)	37.4 ± 1.0	36.8 ± 0.5b	37.3 ± 0.8	36.5 ± 0.3b
APACHE II	8.24 ± 3.57	6.72 ± 4.87b	7.52 ± 3.02	6.08 ± 3.39b
P/F ratio (mmHg)	196.68 ± 105.70	297.47 ± 135.68b	239.00 ± 107.76	308.20 ± 102.54b
WBC (× 109/L)	6.06 ± 3.17	6.87 ± 2.70	6.24 ± 2.72	6.36 ± 1.68
N (× 109/L)	4.91 ± 3.11	5.46 ± 2.67	4.75 ± 2.57	4.11 ± 1.11
L (× 109/L)	0.79 ± 0.34a	0.84 ± 0.54a	1.02 ± 0.39	1.13 ± 0.31
PCT (ng/mL)	0.14 ± 0.13	0.12 ± 0.11	0.07 ± 0.05	0.05 ± 0.04b
ALT (U/L)	53.86 ± 45.69	56.18 ± 52.36	27.06 ± 14.50	38.42 ± 26.58b
AST (U/L)	52.39 ± 44.33	60.15 ± 49.77	31.78 ± 10.39	29.49 ± 17.07
LDH (U/L)	365.63 ± 169.73	-	321.50 ± 85.82	-
Albumin (g/L)	36.27 ± 4.25	34.12 ± 3.28	37.49 ± 3.93	33.21 ± 3.64b
TB (μmol/L)	18.22 ± 6.59	-	14.43 ± 6.96	-
CRP (mg/L)	83.19 ± 63.09	27.15 ± 20.05b	70.92 ± 61.73	18.64 ± 11.09b
D-dimer (mg/L)	1.86 ± 1.42	4.03 ± 5.64b	0.58 ± 0.47	1.01 ± 0.89
IL 10 (pg/mL)	4.51 ± 2.37	6.99 ± 6.35b	4.68 ± 1.37	3.47 ± 0.78b
IL 6 (pg/mL)	43.35 ± 34.19	40.16 ± 28.61	33.03 ± 23.69	31.86 ± 27.13
CD 4+ T (cells/μL)	253.20 ± 144.84	374.76 ± 195.80b	298.31 ± 164.52	430.20 ± 161.40b
CD 8+ T (cells/μL)	157.55 ± 103.76a	285.95 ± 248.60b	220.55 ± 110.87	275.29 ± 108.06b
CD 4/CD 8 Ratio	1.70 ± 0.84	1.91 ± 1.39b	1.51 ± 0.63	1.68 ± 0.61
PT (s)	11.70 ± 1.30	11.41 ± 1.76	12.03 ± 2.16	11.42 ± 0.74
Cr (μmol/L)	64.51 ± 17.13	66.99 ± 24.80	68.94 ± 30.99	73.91 ± 50.68

ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; APACHE: Acute physiology and chronic health assessment; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; CD: Clusters of differentiation; Cr: Creatinine; CRP: C-reactive protein; IL: Interleukin; L: Lymphocyte count; LDH: Lactic dehydrogenase; MAP: Mean arterial pressure; N: Neutrophil count; P/F ratio: PaO₂/FiO₂ or oxygenation index; PCT: Procalcitonin; PT: Prothrombin time; SOFA: Sequential organ failure assessment; T = T cell; TB = total bilirubin; WBC = white blood cell.

^aP < 0.05 vs non-corticosteroid group.

^bP < 0.05 vs baseline (D 0) in each group.