GPT and acute respiratory distress syndrome: Similarly, COVID-19 patients, especially severe (ARDS+) cases, showed statistically significant increases in AST (p-value < 0.005), ALT (p-value < 0.005), and neutrophil (p-value < 0.05) levels, as well as significant decreases in lymphocyte counts (p-value < 0.005) compared to healthy volunteers (Fig. 1A).