@article{10.1172/jci.insight.143299, author = {Davide Scozzi AND Marlene Cano AND Lina Ma AND Dequan Zhou AND Ji Hong Zhu AND Jane A. O’Halloran AND Charles Goss AND Adriana M. Rauseo AND Zhiyi Liu AND Sanjaya K. Sahu AND Valentina Peritore AND Monica Rocco AND Alberto Ricci AND Rachele Amodeo AND Laura Aimati AND Mohsen Ibrahim AND Ramsey Hachem AND Daniel Kreisel AND Philip A. Mudd AND Hrishikesh S. Kulkarni AND Andrew E. Gelman}, journal = {JCI Insight}, publisher = {The American Society for Clinical Investigation}, title = {Circulating mitochondrial DNA is an early indicator of severe illness and mortality from COVID-19}, year = {2021}, month = {2}, volume = {6}, url = {https://insight.jci.org/articles/view/143299}, abstract = {Background Mitochondrial DNA (MT-DNA) are intrinsically inflammatory nucleic acids released by damaged solid organs. Whether circulating cell-free MT-DNA quantitation could be used to predict the risk of poor COVID-19 outcomes remains undetermined.Methods We measured circulating MT-DNA levels in prospectively collected, cell-free plasma samples from 97 subjects with COVID-19 at hospital presentation. Our primary outcome was mortality. Intensive care unit (ICU) admission, intubation, vasopressor, and renal replacement therapy requirements were secondary outcomes. Multivariate regression analysis determined whether MT-DNA levels were independent of other reported COVID-19 risk factors. Receiver operating characteristic and area under the curve assessments were used to compare MT-DNA levels with established and emerging inflammatory markers of COVID-19.Results Circulating MT-DNA levels were highly elevated in patients who eventually died or required ICU admission, intubation, vasopressor use, or renal replacement therapy. Multivariate regression revealed that high circulating MT-DNA was an independent risk factor for these outcomes after adjusting for age, sex, and comorbidities. We also found that circulating MT-DNA levels had a similar or superior area under the curve when compared against clinically established measures of inflammation and emerging markers currently of interest as investigational targets for COVID-19 therapy.Conclusion These results show that high circulating MT-DNA levels are a potential early indicator for poor COVID-19 outcomes.Funding Washington University Institute of Clinical Translational Sciences COVID-19 Research Program and Washington University Institute of Clinical Translational Sciences (ICTS) NIH grant UL1TR002345.}, number = {4}, doi = {10.1172/jci.insight.143299}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.143299}, }