Background and aim: There have been increasing evidence that some biomarker levels may be altered according to the severity of
Covid-19. The largest datasets have been published in the Asian population, owing to the location of the original outbreak.
However, it is possible that the clinical features of Covid-19 may be somewhat different in other populations around the world.
Comorbidities that have been associated with severe illness and mortality include cardiovascular disease, chronic renal and chronic
lung diseases. The current work aimed to evaluate the effects of Covid-19 on cardiac function by analyzing the levels of cardiac
enzymes and proteins in Saudi Covid-19 patients. Methods and Results: This was a prospective study was conducted between May
2020 to July 2020. A total of 100 adult Saudi Covid-19 patients were randomly collected from different hospitals (Ohud- King Fahd
and Al-Madinah General hospitals) in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, Saudi Arabia. GraphPad Prism (version 5.01) was used to analyze
the patient’s data. Biochemical parameters were compared by unpaired t-tests and one-way ANOVA, and the data were represented
as the mean (standard deviation). There were significantly increased levels of creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, and troponin in
severe Covid-19 cases compared with mild and asymptotic cases. In addition, there were significantly increased levels of C-reactive
protein and ferritin in Covid-19 patients. There were also strong positive correlations between cardiac biomarkers and inflammatory
markers in severe Covid-19 patients. Conclusion: In Saudi Covid-19 patients, increased cardiac biomarker levels were correlated with
increased levels of inflammatory markers (CRP and ferritin), suggesting that these patients are at high risk for cardiac damage and
injury during the disease period.
Keywords: Creatine Kinase, Covid-19, Coronavirus Disease, C-reactive protein, Cardiovascular Diseases, Troponin.