Trend of fluctuations of antithrombin in plasma of patients with COVID-19: a meta-analysis and systematic review

ABSTRACT

Background

Antithrombin is considered as one of the accused markers for the development of thrombosis in patients with COVID-19. Because plasma levels of antithrombin vary in patients with COVID-19, a meta-analysis was performed to determine the trend of antithrombin levels in patients with COVID-19.

Research design and methods

A literature search was performed on PubMed, Scopus, and the Web of Science to find papers on antithrombin levels in patients with COVID-19. After removing duplicate papers, inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. The full texts of the articles were read to select relevant articles and then to identify the data needed. All meta-analyses were performed using Stata software v16.0.

Results

Testing for differences between subgroups showed a significant difference between ICU and non-ICU patients. Analysis showed a significant decrease in antithrombin level in patients with severe COVID-19. Analysis showed that the mean value of antithrombin level was 89.65% in all patients. The antithrombin level was significantly lower in the non-survivor group (87.52%) than in the survivor group (92.38%).

Conclusion

Determination of antithrombin may be useful to determine the susceptibility of COVID-19 patients to hypercoagulability and to indicate the severity of COVID-19 infection.

KEYWORDS:

• Antithrombin
• thrombosis
• COVID-19
• SARS-CoV-2

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Mashhad University of Medical Sciences for granting this study.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Author contributions

M Rostami performed the literature search, analyzed the data, wrote the first draft, and agreed on the journal.

H Mansouritorghabeh provided the idea, interpreted the results, wrote the first draft, finalized it, and agreed on the journal.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/17474086.2022.2104708

Additional information

Funding

This manuscript was funded by Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (grant number 4001161).