Three Roosevelt University faculty members recently published their pharmacology research on C-reactive proteins and COVID-19 in two prestigious journals.
In their work, Dr. Peter Hart, Dr. Lawrence Potempa and Ibraheem Rajab explore a new diagnostic tool for assessing how severe coronavirus cases could become.
According to the article in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, approximately 20% of patients infected with COVID-19 develop potentially life-threatening conditions, including hyperinflammation, multiple organ failure and others. The Roosevelt researchers found that blood levels of C-reactive protein, a widely used diagnostic marker mainly used to evaluate inflammation, is markedly elevated in COVID-19 patients.
The Roosevelt faculty members propose that C-reactive protein blood levels could be a simple, rapid and cost-effective way to assess the severity of the disease, and help guide therapeutic options in COVID-19 patients.
“It may be possible to develop a point-of-care CRP test for patients with fever or other basic clinical symptoms that is noninvasive, highly predictive of health outcomes, and which may inform clinical decision-making,” the authors write.
Doctor of Pharmacy students often have the opportunity to work side by side with faculty on research projects. Students in the intensive, accelerated program study year-round and graduate one year earlier than peers in traditional four-year programs. Learn more about the Doctor of Pharmacy.