Open AccessConjunctival polymerase chain reactions in COVID-19 patients and its correlation with clinical and paraclinical indexes
Author(s) -
Maral Farzin,
Seyed Ahmad Rasoulinejad,
Mansour Babaei,
Farzin Sadeghi,
Mahmoud Sadeghi–Haddad–Zavareh,
Alireza Firouzjahi,
Behzad Heidari
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
iranian journal of microbiology.
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 2008-4447
pISSN - 2008-3289
DOI - 10.18502/ijm.v13i6.8074
Subject(s) - covid-19 , medicine , conjunctiva , transmission (telecommunications) , gastroenterology , real time polymerase chain reaction , polymerase chain reaction , positive correlation , correlation , d dimer , negative correlation , ophthalmology , virology , pathology , biology , disease , gene , biochemistry , geometry , mathematics , infectious disease (medical specialty) , electrical engineering , engineering
Background and Objectives: This study aimed to detect SARS-CoV-2 in conjunctival samples of COVID-19 patients to investigate the transmission route of COVID-19 and its correlation with laboratory indexes.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 44 COVID-19 patients were tested for conjunctival PCR in Ayatollah Rouhani hospital of Babol, Iran, in January and February 2021. The conjunctival samples were collected using a conjunctival swab and suspended in a viral transport medium. After RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, real-time PCR was performed to investigate the SARS-CoV-2 genome in samples. The ocular manifestations and laboratory indexes were evaluated for all patients.
Results: Among 44 COVID-19 patients, 6 samples (13.63%) were positive in terms of conjunctival PCR. The mean ± SD age of conjunctival PCR-positive patients was 76.17 ± 16.61-year-old, while conjunctival PCR-negative COVID-19 pa- tients were aged 57.54 ± 13.61-year-old (p <0.05). D-dimer serum level is significantly higher in conjunctival PCR-positive COVID-19 patients (4001.00 ± 3043.36 µg/ml) compared to normal individuals (496.80 ± 805.92 µg/ml, p <0.01).
Conclusion: Our study showed that the conjunctiva and tear contain the SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19 patients as a possible transmission route.