Evolution of Status of Trace Elements and Metallothioneins in Patients with COVID-19: Relationship with Clinical, Biochemical, and Inflammatory Parameters Herrera Quintana, Lourdes María Vázquez Lorente, Héctor Gamarra Morales, Yenifer Iron Zinc Copper Manganese Metallothionein Critical care COVID-19 The inflammatory reaction and pathogenesis of COVID-19 may be modulated by circulating trace elements (Iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Manganese (Mn)) and Metallothioneins (MTs). Thus, the present study aimed to investigate their relationship with clinical, biochemical, and inflammatory parameters in patients with COVID-19 at the early Intensive Care Unit (ICU) phase. Critically ill patients (n = 86) were monitored from the first day of ICU admission until the third day of stay. Serum samples were used to assess mineral levels via Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and MT levels via differential pulse voltammetry. Levels of Cu and MTs were significantly decreased after 3 days (p < 0.05), increasing the prevalence of Cu-deficient values from 50% to 65.3% (p = 0.015). Fe and Zn were shown to have a predictive value for mortality and severity. The present study suggests trace element deficiency may be a risk factor during early ICU treatment of COVID-19, as it is related to different biochemical and clinical parameters, indicating a possible beneficial effect of restoring proper levels of these micronutrients. 2023-10-17T08:40:06Z 2023-10-17T08:40:06Z 2023-08-09 journal article Herrera-Quintana, L.; Vázquez-Lorente, H.; Gamarra-Morales, Y.; Molina-López, J.; Planells, E. Evolution of Status of Trace Elements and Metallothioneins in Patients with COVID-19: Relationship with Clinical, Biochemical, and Inflammatory Parameters. Metabolites 2023, 13, 931. [https://doi.org/10.3390/ metabo13080931] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/85042 10.3390/ metabo13080931 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ open access Atribución 4.0 Internacional MDPI