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Serum lipid profile as a predictor of dengue severity: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Dengue virus is known to modulate host cell lipid metabolism in order to promote efficient viral replication. Recent studies have focused on circulating lipids as potential biomarkers of dengue severity; however, the results obtained so far lack the consistency to establish a definite relationship between the two. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated serum lipids as potential biomarkers of dengue severity by conducting a meta‐analysis of the currently available clinical data. Nine studies that evaluated 1,953 patients were included in the review, many of which were cross‐sectional (44.4%) and conducted in Asian countries (55.5%). These studies observed the presence of lipids in serum samples (77%) of patients in the acute phase of the disease (88.8%). Circulating total‐cholesterol (P = .001) and LDL (P = .001) levels, but not HDL (P = .07), VLDL (P = .9) and triglyceride (P = .57) levels, were inversely and significantly correlated with dengue severity. Total cholesterol (P ≤ .001) and LDL (P = .001) were also useful in determining the risk of hypovolemic shock in patients with severe dengue. Subgroup analysis showed that factors, such as design (cross‐sectional vs cohort), racial‐ethnic differences (Asian vs Latin Americans), and age range (children vs adult) influenced the correlation and also contributed to the high level of heterogeneity in the studies. Our meta‐analysis demonstrates that total‐cholesterol and LDL‐cholesterol levels should be explored as routine laboratory markers for dengue severity, as they will help in employing an appropriate patient therapy, and thus optimize the use of available resources.