LAUSR

INTRODUCTION: In severe COVID-19 infection, researchers have found inflammatory markers which correlates to severity of infection However, we do not know how race influences the levels of these inflammatory markers in COVID-19 patients We hypothesize that level of inflammatory markers varies in different races METHODS: We collected data of consecutive patients hospitalized with COVID-19 infection from 1st March 2020 to 31st July 2020 about inflammatory markers such as ferritin, CRP, fibrinogen, and D-dimer We considered the highest initial value obtained within 7 days of admission as our initial levels Kruskal Wallis test was used to compare between the 4 races - White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian We performed multivariable linear regression models to examine if there were differences in inflammatory markers within the races Comparisons were made to White race The regression was adjusted for age, gender, and co-morbidities Since linear regression used race as a categorical variable, the coefficients (Coef ) represent the absolute difference in the levels of inflammatory marker P value was kept at 0 05 RESULTS: Of the 815 patients, initial levels of ferritin, CRP, fibrinogen, and d-dimer were available for 402, 401, 388 and 366 patients Median levels of ferritin (ng/ml) were 293 in White, 869 in Blacks, 573 in Hispanics and 1029 in Asians On regression, Hispanics had significantly higher levels of ferritin compared to Whites (Coef 1064, 95%CI 212-1916, p=0 014) Median levels of CRP (mg/dL) were 7 8 in White, 14 5 in Blacks, 11 9 in Hispanics and 14 9 in Asians Blacks (Coef 4 2, 95%CI 1 2-7 3, p=0 007) and Hispanics (Coef 2 8, 95%CI 0 54-4 9, p=0 015) had significantly higher levels of CRP compared to Whites Median levels of fibrinogen (mg/dL) were 488 in White, 721 in Blacks, 702 in Hispanics and 623 in Asians Blacks (Coef 117, 95%CI 30-203, p=0 008) and Hispanics (Coef 130, 95%CI 68-192, p<0 001) had significantly higher levels of fibrinogen when compared to Whites There were no differences in levels of D-dimer within the races CONCLUSIONS: Significant variations in levels of inflammatory markers occur in different races Hispanics and Blacks have higher levels of inflammatory when compared to Whites Studies are needed if these differences relate to outcomes in these patients