Evaluation of the relationship between macrophage migration inhibitory factor level and clinical course in patients with COVID‐19 pneumonia

Background and objective: Coronary artery disease is a chronic inflammatory disease in which many risk factors and inflammatory mediators, including macrophage migration inhibitory factor, are involved. This study aimed to estimate macrophage migration inhibitory factor level in coronary artery disease patients in regard to age, gender, and smoking. Methods: A total of 138 coronary artery disease patients and 38 coronary artery disease free control subjects were admitted to surgical specialty hospital-cardiac center in Erbil city, Iraq between January and December 2017. Plasma macrophage migration inhibitory factor concentration was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Patients and controls were categorized into subgroups according to age (<55 and ≥55 years), gender (women and men), and smoking status (smokers and non-smokers). Macrophage migration inhibitory factor level in every coronary artery disease subgroup (age, gender, and smokers) patients increased significantly compared to the same control subgroups (P <0.05). Macrophage migration inhibitory factor level showed a higher level in coronary artery disease patients subgroups (≥55 years, female, smokers) compared to their corresponding coronary artery disease subgroups (<55 years, male, and non smokers). Macrophage migration inhibitory factor demonstrated a significant positive correlation with fibrinogen and high sensitivity C-reactive protein, insignificant positive correlation with age, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, and insignificant negative correlation with high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (P >0.05). Conclusion: This study demonstrated the diagnostic value of macrophage migration inhibitory factor elevation in coronary artery disease patients if compared with coronary artery disease free subjects, meanwhile suggesting that age, gender, and smoking had no direct role in macrophage migration inhibitory factor elevation considering their secondary minor contributions in macrophage migration inhibitory factor circulation. Keywords: Coronary; Macrophage; Age; Gender; Smoking.