Oxidative and Inflammatory Biomarkers of Lung injury in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) patients living with HIV

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Although both COVID-19 and HIV infections have been declared as pandemic at different times and both are known to cause lung injury, very few research has been done to determine the possibility of worsened lung injury in HIV patients infected with COVID-19. This systematic review attempts to determine the oxidative and inflammatory biomarkers associated with acute lung injury in HIV-positive population co-infected with COVID-19. Published studies in three databases were searched from January 1, 2019, to October 27, 2020. The search identified eight studies (with a total of 76 patients) that met the inclusion criteria and were included in the qualitative analysis of the systematic review. Among the eight studies, three were case reports describing 1–3 patients, four case series including 4–31 patients, and one was a cohort study. The Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools were used to assess the included studies. Qualitative analysis was used due to the heterogeneity of the study designs and the biomarkers measured. At present, C-reactive protein, Interleukin-6, D-dimer, and Lactate dehydrogenase have been found associated with the severity of disease, prognosis, and lung injury in HIV-positive patients coinfected with COVID-19. The causal association between elevated levels of these biomarkers and acute lung injury is still unknown; therefore, prospective studies are needed to determine biomarkers of lung injury useful for the prognosis and outcome of COVID-19 infection in the HIV population.