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Yuan Y, Xu J, Chen G, Liu Y, Ouyang L, Ma B, Wang B, Yan W, Zhang Q, Ma Q, Zhang J, Mao X, Zhang X, Geng Y, Wang H, Li Y, Zheng P, Wang R. Comparable immune escape capacity between KP.2 and other SARS-CoV-2 variants in the central Chinese population after the first COVID-19 booster. Sci Rep 2025; 15:17762. [PMID: 40404955 PMCID: PMC12098834 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-02927-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2025] [Accepted: 05/16/2025] [Indexed: 05/24/2025] Open
Abstract
The neutralisation ability of homologous and heterologous booster vaccinations against the KP.2 variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is unknown. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the neutralisation of the Omicron variants by comparing serum samples from Chinese individuals who received heterologous boosters (from different manufacturers) with those who received homologous boosters (from the same manufacturer) against SARS-CoV-2. We collected serum samples from participants in the homologous (n = 38) and heterologous booster groups (n = 38) over 690 days. Serum pseudo virus neutralisation was tested against the prototype, XBB.1, JN.1, and KP.2 variants to detect neutralisation titres. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure the total concentration of neutralising antibodies against the receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2. Neutralisation assays revealed 12.3-, 12.3-, and 11.4-fold reductions against JN.1, KP.2, and XBB.1 variants, respectively, compared with that against the prototype. However, no significant difference was observed in neutralising antibody titres among the JN.1, KP.2, and XBB.1 Omicron variants. Additionally, homologous boosters and men produced fewer neutralising antibodies compared to heterologous boosters and women. Thus, our results demonstrate that the Omicron variant KP.2 exhibits similar evasion properties to those observed in other variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Youhua Yuan
- Department of Special Laboratory, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and People's Hospital of Henan University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, People's Republic of China
| | - Junhong Xu
- Department of Clinical Microbiology, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and People's Hospital of Henan University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, People's Republic of China
| | - Guohua Chen
- Department of Laboratory, Zhengzhou Municipal Chinese Medicine Hospital, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, People's Republic of China
| | - Yan Liu
- Institute for In Vitro Diagnostic Reagents Control, National Institutes for Food and Drug Control, Beijing, 100050, People's Republic of China
| | - Libo Ouyang
- Department of Autoimmune, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and People's Hospital of Henan University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, People's Republic of China
| | - Bing Ma
- Department of Clinical Microbiology, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and People's Hospital of Henan University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, People's Republic of China
| | - Baoya Wang
- Department of Clinical Microbiology, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and People's Hospital of Henan University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, People's Republic of China
| | - Wenjuan Yan
- Department of Clinical Microbiology, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and People's Hospital of Henan University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, People's Republic of China
| | - Qi Zhang
- Department of Clinical Microbiology, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and People's Hospital of Henan University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, People's Republic of China
| | - Qiong Ma
- Department of Clinical Microbiology, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and People's Hospital of Henan University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, People's Republic of China
| | - Jiangfeng Zhang
- Department of Clinical Microbiology, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and People's Hospital of Henan University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaohuan Mao
- Department of Special Laboratory, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and People's Hospital of Henan University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaohuan Zhang
- Department of Special Laboratory, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and People's Hospital of Henan University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, People's Republic of China
| | - Yiman Geng
- Department of PCR, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and People's Hospital of Henan University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, People's Republic of China
| | - Huiling Wang
- Department of PCR, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and People's Hospital of Henan University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, People's Republic of China.
| | - Yi Li
- Department of Clinical Microbiology, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and People's Hospital of Henan University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, People's Republic of China.
| | - Peiming Zheng
- Department of Autoimmune, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and People's Hospital of Henan University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, People's Republic of China.
| | - Rong Wang
- Department of Autoimmune, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and People's Hospital of Henan University, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, People's Republic of China.
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Bédard-Matteau J, Soulé A, Liu KY, Fourcade L, Fraser DD, Emad A, Rousseau S. Circulating IL-17F, but not IL-17A, is elevated in severe COVID-19 and leads to an ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK-dependent increase in ICAM-1 cell surface expression and neutrophil adhesion on endothelial cells. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1452788. [PMID: 39493750 PMCID: PMC11527637 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1452788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2024] [Accepted: 09/17/2024] [Indexed: 11/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Severe COVID-19 is associated with neutrophilic inflammation and immunothrombosis. Several members of the IL-17 cytokine family have been associated with neutrophilic inflammation and activation of the endothelium. Therefore, we investigated whether these cytokines were associated with COVID-19. Methods We investigated the association between COVID-19 and circulating plasma levels of IL-17 cytokine family members in participants to the Biobanque québécoise de la COVID-19 (BQC19), a prospective observational cohort and an independent cohort from Western University (London, Ontario). We measured the in vitro impact of IL-17F on intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) cell surface expression and neutrophil adhesion on endothelial cells in culture. The contribution of two Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) pathways was determined using small molecule inhibitors PD184352 (a MKK1/MKK2 inhibitor) and BIRB0796 (a p38 MAPK inhibitor). Results We found increased IL-17D and IL-17F plasma levels when comparing SARS-CoV-2-positive vs negative hospitalized participants. Moreover, increased plasma levels of IL-17D, IL-17E and IL-17F were noted when comparing severe versus mild COVID-19. IL-17F, but not IL-17A, was significantly elevated in people with COVID-19 compared to healthy controls and with more severe disease. In vitro work on endothelial cells treated with IL-17F for 24h showed an increase cell surface expression of ICAM-1 accompanied by neutrophil adhesion. The introduction of two MAPK inhibitors significantly reduced the binding of neutrophils while also reducing ICAM-1 expression at the surface level of endothelial cells, but not its intracellular expression. Discussion Overall, these results have identified an association between two cytokines of the IL-17 family (IL-17D and IL-17F) with COVID-19 and disease severity. Considering that IL-17F stimulation promotes neutrophil adhesion to the endothelium in a MAPK-dependent manner, it is attractive to speculate that this pathway may contribute to pathogenic immunothrombosis in concert with other molecular effectors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jérôme Bédard-Matteau
- The Meakins-Christie Laboratories, Research Institute of the McGill University Heath Centre, Montréal, QC, Canada
- Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Antoine Soulé
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Katelyn Yixiu Liu
- The Meakins-Christie Laboratories, Research Institute of the McGill University Heath Centre, Montréal, QC, Canada
- Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Lyvia Fourcade
- The Meakins-Christie Laboratories, Research Institute of the McGill University Heath Centre, Montréal, QC, Canada
- Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Douglas D. Fraser
- Children’s Health Research Institute & Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Pediatrics, Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - Amin Emad
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
- Mila, Quebec AI Institute, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Simon Rousseau
- The Meakins-Christie Laboratories, Research Institute of the McGill University Heath Centre, Montréal, QC, Canada
- Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
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Harvey BJ, McElvaney NG. Sex differences in airway disease: estrogen and airway surface liquid dynamics. Biol Sex Differ 2024; 15:56. [PMID: 39026347 PMCID: PMC11264786 DOI: 10.1186/s13293-024-00633-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 07/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Biological sex differences exist for many airway diseases in which females have either worse or better health outcomes. Inflammatory airway diseases such as cystic fibrosis (CF) and asthma display a clear male advantage in post-puberty while a female benefit is observed in asthma during the pre-puberty years. The influence of menstrual cycle stage and pregnancy on the frequency and severity of pulmonary exacerbations in CF and asthma point to a role for sex steroid hormones, particularly estrogen, in underpinning biological sex differences in these diseases. There are many ways by which estrogen may aggravate asthma and CF involving disturbances in airway surface liquid (ASL) dynamics, inappropriate hyper-immune and allergenic responses, as well as exacerbation of pathogen virulence. The deleterious effect of estrogen on pulmonary function in CF and asthma contrasts with the female advantage observed in airway diseases characterised by pulmonary edema such as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and COVID-19. Airway surface liquid hypersecretion and alveolar flooding are hallmarks of ARDS and COVID-19, and contribute to the morbidity and mortality of severe forms of these diseases. ASL dynamics encompasses the intrinsic features of the thin lining of fluid covering the airway epithelium which regulate mucociliary clearance (ciliary beat, ASL height, volume, pH, viscosity, mucins, and channel activating proteases) in addition to innate defence mechanisms (pathogen virulence, cytokines, defensins, specialised pro-resolution lipid mediators, and metabolism). Estrogen regulation of ASL dynamics contributing to biological sex differences in CF, asthma and COVID-19 is a major focus of this review.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian J Harvey
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, 126 St Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland.
- Department of Medicine, RCSI ERC, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 2, Ireland.
| | - Noel G McElvaney
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, 126 St Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland
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Kautzky A, Nopp S, Gattinger D, Petrovic M, Antlinger M, Schomacker D, Kautzky-Willer A, Zwick RH. Sex differences of post-Covid patients undergoing outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation. Biol Sex Differ 2024; 15:36. [PMID: 38650012 PMCID: PMC11034076 DOI: 10.1186/s13293-024-00609-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Following years of pandemic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections labelled Covid-19, long lasting impairment summarized as post-Covid syndrome (PCS) challenges worldwide healthcare. Patients benefit from rehabilitation programs, but sex specific aspects of improvement remain little understood. The aim of the study was to assess whether women and men differ in response to outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation for PCS. METHODS 263 (54.4% female) patients partaking in outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation (OPR) due to PCS between March 2020 and July 2022 were included in a prospective observational cohort study. Outcomes were assessed at baseline and before discharge from OPR and included six-minute walking distance (6MWD), 1-second forced expiratory volume (FEV1), diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide, maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP), dyspnea (medical research council scale), and post-Covid functional status scale (PCFS). Sexspecific changes in outcomes following OPR were assessed by linear mixed model and presented as mean differences (MD) with 95% confidence intervals. Linear regression was applied to test whether 6MWD correlates with PCFS and the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) in 6MWD regarding an improvement of at least one point in PCFS was computed with logistic regression. RESULTS Significant improvement throughout OPR was observed for all outcomes (all p < 0.0001). Despite less severe Covid-19 infections, PCFS scores remained higher in females after OPR (p = 0.004) and only 19.4% of women compared to 38.5% of men achieved remission of functional impairment. At baseline as well as after OPR, females showed higher symptom load compared to men in dyspnea (p = 0.0027) and scored lower in FEV1 (p = 0.009) and MIP (p = 0.0006) assessment. Performance in 6MWD was comparable between men and women. An increase of 35 m in 6MWD was computed as minimal clinically important difference to improve functional impairment. CONCLUSION Both subjective symptoms such as fatigue and dyspnea and objective impairment in performance in pulmonary function were more frequently observed among women. Despite improvement throughout OPR in both women and men, the sex-gap in symptom load could not be closed as women less often achieved remission from functional impairment due to PCS. Intensified treatment of these symptoms should be considered in women undergoing rehabilitation for PCS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Kautzky
- Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry, Department for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University if Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Stephan Nopp
- Clinical Division of Haematology and Haemostaseology, Department of Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Dietlinde Gattinger
- Outpatient Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Therme Wien Med, Vienna, Austria
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rehabilitation Research, Vienna, Austria
| | - Milos Petrovic
- Outpatient Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Therme Wien Med, Vienna, Austria
| | - Martin Antlinger
- Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry, Department for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University if Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Dustin Schomacker
- Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry, Department for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University if Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Alexandra Kautzky-Willer
- Clinical Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine III, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ralf Harun Zwick
- Outpatient Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Therme Wien Med, Vienna, Austria.
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rehabilitation Research, Vienna, Austria.
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