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Aging (Albany NY)
. 2021 Mar 10;13.
doi: 10.18632/aging.202691. Online ahead of print.
Age cohorts stratified according to age-distributions of COVID-19 morbidity statistics identify uniquely age-dependent CD3 + CD8 + T-cell lymphocytopenia in COVID-19 patients without comorbidities on admission
Shengwei Jin 1 2 , Hui An 1 2 , Tong Zhou 1 3 , Ting Li 2 , Chengshui Chen 4 , Binyu Ying 5 , Zhangye Xu 3 , Xiaokun Li 6 , Ming Li 1
Affiliations
- PMID: 33714947
- DOI: 10.18632/aging.202691
Abstract
If age boundaries are arbitrarily or roughly defined, age-related analyses can result in questionable findings. Here, we aimed to delineate the uniquely age-dependent immune features of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a retrospective study of 447 patients, stratified according to age distributions of COVID-19 morbidity statistics into well-defined age-cohorts (2-25y, 26-38y, 39-57y, 58-68y, and 69-79y). Age-dependent susceptibilities and severities of the disease were observed in COVID-19 patients. A comparison of the lymphocyte counts among the five age-groups indicated that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection led to age-dependent lymphopenia. Among the lymphocyte subsets, the CD8+ T cell count alone was significantly and age-dependently decreased (520, 385, 320, 172, and 139 n/?l in the five age-groups, respectively). In contrast, the CD4+ T cell, B cell, and natural killer cell counts did not differ among age-cohorts. Age and CD8+ T cell counts (r=?0.435, p<0.0001) were negatively correlated in COVID-19 patients. Moreover, SARS-CoV-2 infection age-dependently increased the plasma C-reactive protein concentrations (2.0, 5.0, 9.0, 11.6, and 36.1 mg/L in the five age-groups, respectively). These findings can be used to elucidate the role of CD8+ T cells in age-related pathogenesis and to help develop therapeutic strategies for COVID-19.
Keywords: C-reactive protein; CD8+ T cells; COVID-19; age-dependent immune features; coronavirus disease 2019.