TGF-β as a biomarker for severe COVID-19 disease

The cytokine TGF-β can be used as a biomarker to predict the severity of COVID-19 progression during the early stages of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Researchers from Mir-Farzin Mashreghi’s group at the DRFZ, in collaboration with the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology (ITMP), measured the concentration of the cytokine TGF-β in the serum of COVID-19 patients. Patients with severe COVID-19 had significantly higher concentrations of TGF-β in their serum than those with mild or moderate disease one to two weeks after the onset of symptoms. Moreover, the high early serum concentration of the cytokine in severe COVID-19 patients was predictive of a possible fatal outcome. Treatment of patients with the steroid dexamethasone to limit disease severity also reduced serum levels of TGF-β, and thus could also be used as a marker for response to therapy.

Previous studies from the DRFZ have already shown that the early formation of TGF-β inhibits the immune response against SARS-COV-2, resulting in a more severe disease outcome. This new study has now shown that TGF-β can also be used as a biomarker, allowing for an accurate prediction of the course of the disease at a very early stage and thus enabling early intervention with therapeutics.