Clinical characteristics of the participants#
| Respiratory failure | Critical COVID-19 | p-value | |
| Subjects | 15 | 18 | |
| Age years | 56.00 (37.00–65.00) | 59.50 (49.00–72.00) | 0.164 |
| Male/female | 9/6 | 12/6 | 0.731 |
| HBP ng·mL−1 | 12.58 (5.90–29.85) | 113.20 (50.57–186.00) | <0.001 |
| ALT U·L−1 | 23.77 (8.19–36.47) | 21.25 (13.00–34.50) | 0.064 |
| AST U·L−1 | 31.60 (30.10–40.30) | 35.74 (26.40–65.35) | <0.001 |
| BUN mg·dL−1 | 6.18 (5.43–7.20) | 10.80 (5.30–15.40) | 0.002 |
| Creatinine μmol·mL−1 | 67.10 (54.39–91.01) | 76.40 (55.60–103.50) | 0.038 |
| CRP mg·L−1 | 0.13 (0.05–0.24) | 10.37 (5.70–16.10) | <0.001 |
| D-dimer μg·L−1 | 811 (159.8–3500.00) | 3655 (1800–6353) | <0.001 |
| PCT μg·L−1 | 0.11 (0.05–0.17) | 0.30 (0.15–0.98) | <0.001 |
| K+ mmol·L−1 | 4.27 (4.10–4.62) | 4.17 (3.93–4.51) | 0.086 |
| Na+ mmol·L−1 | 135.50 (135.20–140.10) | 135.50 (131.20–143.60) | 0.305 |
| Cl− mmol·L−1 | 97.10 (94.33–104.13 | 94.50 (81.10–115.30) | 0.327 |
| Ca2+ mmol·L−1 | 2.24 (2.20–2.51) | 2.24 (2.06–2.45) | 0.394 |
| White blood cells ×109 cells·L−1 | 5.13 (4.77–7.31) | 8.46 (7.20–11.40) | <0.001 |
| Neutrophils ×109 cells·L−1 | 2.31 (1.94–4.00) | 6.80 (5.20–8.60) | <0.001 |
| Lymphocytes ×109 cells·L−1 | 1.53 (0.97–1.66) | 0.95 (0.62–1.50) | 0.021 |
| Red blood cells ×1012 cells·L−1 | 4.31 (3.44–5.19) | 2.90 (2.65–3.41) | <0.001 |
| Platelets ×109 cells·L−1 | 154.00 (117.00–203.00) | 160.00 (109.00–221.00) | 0.527 |
Data are presented as n or median (interquartile range), unless otherwise stated. COVID-19: coronavirus disease 2019; HBP: heparin-binding protein; ALT: alanine transaminase; AST: aspartate transaminase; BUN: blood urea nitrogen; CRP: C-reactive protein; PCT: procalcitonin; K+: potassium; Na+: sodium; Cl−: chloride; Ca2+: calcium. #: day 1 data, except HBP, which was the average of multiple time points.