ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Virology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1606306
This article is part of the Research TopicEffective Therapeutic Strategies, Including Treatments, Vaccines, and Immunotherapies, for Combating Zoonotic Viruses and Improving Global Health OutcomesView all 3 articles
Dynamic changes of Ct values of N gene and ORF1ab genes and laboratory parameters in patients with COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 B.1, BA.2 and BA.5 variants and their correlation with clinical characteristics
Provisionally accepted
- First Affiliated Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
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Objective: To characterize the dynamic patterns of ORF1ab and N gene Ct values in oropharyngeal swabs from COVID-19 patients infected with different SARS-CoV-2 variants and assess their clinical and laboratory correlations. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 259 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Jilin Province between 2021-2023. Comparative analyses were performed on: (1) variant-specific Ct value trajectories for ORF1ab and N genes, (2) nucleic acid conversion times, and (3) longitudinal hematological and biochemical parameters. Results: B.1 variant exhibited the lowest median Ct values (ORF1ab: 31.37; N gene: 30.49) and longest median nucleic acid conversion time (18 days). BA.2 variant demonstrated the highest median Ct values (ORF1ab: 33.00; N gene: 32.00) and shortest conversion time (14 days). Disease progression correlated with: Increased creatinine (CREA), neutrophil percentage (NE%), and coagulation markers (D-dimer). Decreased lymphocyte percentage (LY%). Conclusion: Significant inter-variant differences were observed in viral clearance kinetics (Ct values and conversion times) and organ dysfunction markers. These findings highlight variant-specific pathophysiological profiles, with B.1 showing prolonged viral shedding and Omicron subvariants (particularly BA.2) exhibiting faster clearance but distinct hematological perturbations.
Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 BA.2 variant, SARS-CoV-2 BA.5 variant, SARS-CoV-2 B.1 lineage, Cycle threshold, Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction
Received: 05 Apr 2025; Accepted: 16 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Xu, Chen and Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jiancheng Xu, First Affiliated Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
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