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Viral Immunol
. 2021 Apr 23.
doi: 10.1089/vim.2020.0320. Online ahead of print.
The Effect of SARS-CoV-2 on the Spleen and T Lymphocytes
Lixia Xie 1 , Yuanlan Lin 1 , Yushu Deng 2 , Bin Lei 3
Affiliations
- PMID: 33902347
- DOI: 10.1089/vim.2020.0320
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has infected millions of individuals in the world. However, the long-term effect of SARS-CoV-2 on the organs of recovered patients remains unclear. This study is to evaluate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the spleen and T lymphocytes. Seventy-six patients recovered from COVID-19, including 66 cases of moderate pneumonia and 10 cases of severe pneumonia were enrolled in the observation group. The control group consisted of 55 age-matched healthy subjects. The thickness and length of spleen were measured by using B-ultrasound and the levels of T lymphocytes were detected by flow cytometry. Results showed that the mean length of spleen in the observation group was 89.57 ? 11.49 mm, which was significantly reduced compared with that in the control group (103.82 ? 11.29 mm, p < 0.001). The mean thicknesses of spleen between observation group and control group were 29.97 ? 4.04 mm and 32.45 ? 4.49 mm, respectively, and the difference was significant (p < 0.001). However, no significant difference was observed in the size of spleen between common pneumonia and severe pneumonia (p > 0.05). In addition, the decreased count of T lymphocyte was observed in part of recovered patients. The counts of T suppressor lymphocytes in patients with severe pneumonia were significantly decreased compared with those with moderate pneumonia (p = 0.005). Therefore, these data indicate that SARS-CoV-2 infection affects the size of spleen and T lymphocytes.
Keywords: B-ultrasound; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus disease 2019; spleen.