Dexamethasone and tocilizumab treatment considerably reduces the value of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin to detect secondary bacterial infections in COVID-19 patients

Table 1 Patient characteristics and circulating levels of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin on ICU admission in the D−T−, D+T− and D+T+ groups

	No DEXA, no TOCI (D−T−, n = 66)	DEXA, no TOCI (D+T−, n = 47)	DEXA + TOCI (D+T+, n = 73)	p value
Sex, male	49 (74)	35	46	0.26
Age, years	66 [59–72]	66 [56–72]	64 [57–71]	0.77
Body mass index, kg/m²	27.6 [24.9–30.9]^§	29.0 [26.3–32.4]	29.5 [26.2–34.4]	0.02
APACHE II	15 [12–19]	15 [13–18]	16 [14–21]	0.06
Time from first COVID-19 symptoms until ICU admission, days	11 [7–13]	9 [6–12]	10 [8–12]	0.19
Medical history
Renal insufficiency	1 (2)	2	1	0.52
Metastatic neoplasm	5 (8)	1	1	0.13
Immunological insufficiency	1 (2)	2	3	0.62
COPD	6 (9)	6	7	0.80
Diabetes mellitus	15 (23)	14	17	0.65
Hypertension	33 (50)	24	38	0.97
Biomarkers at ICU admission
Procalcitonin, µg/L	0.62 [0.26–1.05]*^,§	0.24 [0.17–0.46]	0.26 [0.11–0.42]	0.001
C-reactive protein, mg/L	222 [133–275]*^,§	94 [68–133]	90 [43–146]	< 0.0001

All statistically significant p-values are depicted in italics
p values were calculated using Kruskal Wallis or chi-square tests, followed by Dunn’s multiple comparison tests and pairwise chi-square tests, respectively. Data are presented as n (%) or median [IQR]
^*p < 0.05 compared to D+T− group. ^§p < 0.05 compared to D+T+ group

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