tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Virol J
. 2022 Nov 19;19(1):192.
doi: 10.1186/s12985-022-01926-8.
Characteristics of lymphocyte subset alterations in COVID-19 patients with different levels of disease severity
Wei Dai[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Aifang Zhong[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Qinghua Qiao[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 3 5 [/SUP], Jian Wu[SUP] 1 6 [/SUP], Weiwei Li[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Qiuyue Wu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Hongjian Zhou[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Shijie Qin[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Weijun Jiang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jing Zhang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Xinyi Xia[SUP] 7 8 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory disorder caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which had rapidly spread all over the world and caused public health emergencies in the past two years. Although the diagnosis and treatment for COVID-19 have been well defined, the immune cell characteristics and the key lymphocytes subset alterations in COVID-19 patients have not been thoroughly investigated.
Methods: The levels of immune cells including T cells, B cells, and natural killer (NK) cells in 548 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and 30 types of lymphocyte subsets in 125 hospitalized COVID-19 patients admitted to Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital of China were measured using flow cytometry. The relationship between lymphocytes subsets with the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) and the characteristics of lymphocyte subsets in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data obtained from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were also analysed in COVID-19 patients.
Results: In this study, we found that patients with critical COVID-19 infection exhibited an overall decline in lymphocytes including CD4[SUP]+[/SUP] T cells, CD8[SUP]+[/SUP] T cells, total T cells, B cells, and NK cells compared to mild and severe patients. However, the number of lymphocyte subsets, such as CD21[SUP]low[/SUP] CD38[SUP]low[/SUP] B cells, effector T4 cells, and PD1[SUP]+[/SUP] depleted T8 cells, was moderately increased in critical COVID-19 patients compared to mild cases. Notably, except for effector memory T4 cells, plasma blasts and Tregs, the number of all lymphocyte subsets was markedly decreased in COVID-19 patients with IL-6 levels over 30-fold higher than those in healthy cases. Moreover, scRNA-seq data showed obvious differences in the distribution and numbers of lymphocyte subsets between COVID-19 patients and healthy persons, and subsets-specific marker genes of lymphocyte subsets including CD4, CD19, CCR7, and IL7R, were markedly decreased in COVID-19 patients compared with those in healthy cases.
Conclusion: A comprehensive decrease in immune cell and lymphocyte subsets in critical COVID-19 patients, and peripheral lymphocyte subset alterations showed a clear association with clinical characteristics.
Keywords: COVID-19; IL-6; Immune cells; Lymphocyte subsets; scRNA-seq.
. 2022 Nov 19;19(1):192.
doi: 10.1186/s12985-022-01926-8.
Characteristics of lymphocyte subset alterations in COVID-19 patients with different levels of disease severity
Wei Dai[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Aifang Zhong[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Qinghua Qiao[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 3 5 [/SUP], Jian Wu[SUP] 1 6 [/SUP], Weiwei Li[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Qiuyue Wu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Hongjian Zhou[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Shijie Qin[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Weijun Jiang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jing Zhang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Xinyi Xia[SUP] 7 8 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 36403042
- DOI: 10.1186/s12985-022-01926-8
Abstract
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory disorder caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which had rapidly spread all over the world and caused public health emergencies in the past two years. Although the diagnosis and treatment for COVID-19 have been well defined, the immune cell characteristics and the key lymphocytes subset alterations in COVID-19 patients have not been thoroughly investigated.
Methods: The levels of immune cells including T cells, B cells, and natural killer (NK) cells in 548 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and 30 types of lymphocyte subsets in 125 hospitalized COVID-19 patients admitted to Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital of China were measured using flow cytometry. The relationship between lymphocytes subsets with the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) and the characteristics of lymphocyte subsets in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data obtained from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were also analysed in COVID-19 patients.
Results: In this study, we found that patients with critical COVID-19 infection exhibited an overall decline in lymphocytes including CD4[SUP]+[/SUP] T cells, CD8[SUP]+[/SUP] T cells, total T cells, B cells, and NK cells compared to mild and severe patients. However, the number of lymphocyte subsets, such as CD21[SUP]low[/SUP] CD38[SUP]low[/SUP] B cells, effector T4 cells, and PD1[SUP]+[/SUP] depleted T8 cells, was moderately increased in critical COVID-19 patients compared to mild cases. Notably, except for effector memory T4 cells, plasma blasts and Tregs, the number of all lymphocyte subsets was markedly decreased in COVID-19 patients with IL-6 levels over 30-fold higher than those in healthy cases. Moreover, scRNA-seq data showed obvious differences in the distribution and numbers of lymphocyte subsets between COVID-19 patients and healthy persons, and subsets-specific marker genes of lymphocyte subsets including CD4, CD19, CCR7, and IL7R, were markedly decreased in COVID-19 patients compared with those in healthy cases.
Conclusion: A comprehensive decrease in immune cell and lymphocyte subsets in critical COVID-19 patients, and peripheral lymphocyte subset alterations showed a clear association with clinical characteristics.
Keywords: COVID-19; IL-6; Immune cells; Lymphocyte subsets; scRNA-seq.