Basic inflammation markers in COVID-19 patients with cardiovascular comorbidity treated with glucocorticosteroids and a combination of glucocorticosteroids and genetically engineered biological drugs

Dexamethasone is a medicinal product, a synthetic glucocorticosteroid, which has an anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effect. It is used in the treatment of many diseases and conditions. Genetically engineered biological drugs (GEBDs) are a group of medicinal products whose mechanism of action is aimed at cytokine receptors, blocking excessive inflammation. GEBDs are mainly human monoclonal antibodies. We studied 90 case histories of patients diagnosed with the new coronavirus infection caused by COVID-19; the inclusion criterion was the presence of cardiovascular comorbidity in anamnesis. We distinguished 2 groups: patients of group 1 had received only glucocorticosteroids as anti-inflammatory treatment (52 patients) and patients of group 2 had received GEBDs in addition to glucocorticosteroids (38 patients). The effectiveness of the treatment was evaluated according to computed tomography (CT) or radiography, the results of the general blood test (leukocytes, lymphocytes), coagulogram (INR, prothrombin time, fibrinogen), and biochemical blood test (CRP). Introduction of genetically engineered biological drugs together with glucocorticosteroids promotes treatment effectiveness, in contrast to the use of glucocorticosteroids alone since there is a more pronounced reduction of CRP as one of the most important indicators of systemic inflammation.

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