tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Front Immunol
. 2024 Mar 14:15:1356638.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1356638. eCollection 2024. T-cell count and T-cell telomere length in patients with severe COVID-19
Bryan D Kraft[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Simon Verhulst[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Tsung-Po Lai[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Bruce A Sullenger[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Yunfei Wang[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Wes Rountree[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Lingye Chen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Christopher W Woods[SUP] 6 7 [/SUP], Thomas N Denny[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Abraham Aviv[SUP] 3 8 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Lymphocyte telomere length (TL) is highly variable and shortens with age. Short telomeres may impede TL-dependent T-cell clonal expansion with viral infection. As SARS-CoV-2 infection can induce prolonged and severe T-cell lymphopenia, infected adults, and particularly older adults with short telomeres, may display severe T-cell lymphopenia. To examine the relationship between T-cell TL parameters and T-cell counts, we studied 40 patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19. T-cells were isolated from lymphocytes, counted using flow cytometry, and their TL parameters were measured using the Telomere Shortest Length Assay. The cohort (median age = 62 years, 27% female) was racially and ethnically diverse (33% White, 35% Black, and 33% Other). On intensive care unit study day 1, T-cell count (mean=1.03 x10[SUP]9[/SUP]/L) was inversely related to age (p=0.007) and higher in females than males (p=0.025). Mean TL was 3.88 kilobases (kb), and 45.3% of telomeres were shorter than 3 kb. Using multiple regression analysis and adjusting for age and sex, T-cell count decreased with increased proportion of T-cell telomeres shorter than 3 kb (p=0.033) and increased with mean TL (p=0.052). Our findings suggest an association between the buildup of short telomeres within T-cells and explain in part reduced peripheral blood T-cell counts in patients with severe COVID-19. Shortened T-cell telomeres may be a risk factor for COVID-19-associated T-cell lymphopenia.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; T-lymphocytes; aging; lymphopenia; sex; telomere.
. 2024 Mar 14:15:1356638.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1356638. eCollection 2024. T-cell count and T-cell telomere length in patients with severe COVID-19
Bryan D Kraft[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Simon Verhulst[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Tsung-Po Lai[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Bruce A Sullenger[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Yunfei Wang[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Wes Rountree[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Lingye Chen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Christopher W Woods[SUP] 6 7 [/SUP], Thomas N Denny[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Abraham Aviv[SUP] 3 8 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 38550590
- PMCID: PMC10972845
- DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1356638
Lymphocyte telomere length (TL) is highly variable and shortens with age. Short telomeres may impede TL-dependent T-cell clonal expansion with viral infection. As SARS-CoV-2 infection can induce prolonged and severe T-cell lymphopenia, infected adults, and particularly older adults with short telomeres, may display severe T-cell lymphopenia. To examine the relationship between T-cell TL parameters and T-cell counts, we studied 40 patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19. T-cells were isolated from lymphocytes, counted using flow cytometry, and their TL parameters were measured using the Telomere Shortest Length Assay. The cohort (median age = 62 years, 27% female) was racially and ethnically diverse (33% White, 35% Black, and 33% Other). On intensive care unit study day 1, T-cell count (mean=1.03 x10[SUP]9[/SUP]/L) was inversely related to age (p=0.007) and higher in females than males (p=0.025). Mean TL was 3.88 kilobases (kb), and 45.3% of telomeres were shorter than 3 kb. Using multiple regression analysis and adjusting for age and sex, T-cell count decreased with increased proportion of T-cell telomeres shorter than 3 kb (p=0.033) and increased with mean TL (p=0.052). Our findings suggest an association between the buildup of short telomeres within T-cells and explain in part reduced peripheral blood T-cell counts in patients with severe COVID-19. Shortened T-cell telomeres may be a risk factor for COVID-19-associated T-cell lymphopenia.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; T-lymphocytes; aging; lymphopenia; sex; telomere.