Torres Rives B, Zúñiga Rosales Y, Mataran Valdés M, Roblejo Balbuena H, Martínez Téllez G, Rodríguez Pérez J, Caridad Marín Padrón L, Rodríguez Pelier C, Sotomayor Lugo F, Valdés Zayas A, Carmenate Portilla T, Sánchez Ramírez B, Carlos Silva Aycaguer L, Portal Miranda JA, Marcheco Teruel B. Assessment of changes in immune status linked to COVID-19 convalescent and its clinical severity in patients and uninfected exposed relatives.
Immunobiology 2022;
227:152216. [PMID:
35436751 PMCID:
PMC9004226 DOI:
10.1016/j.imbio.2022.152216]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2021] [Revised: 02/23/2022] [Accepted: 04/09/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION
The immune response during and after SARS-CoV-2 infection can be complex and heterogeneous, and it can be affected by the severity of the disease. It can also contribute to an unfavorable evolution and bring about short and long term effects. The aim of this study was to characterize the lymphocyte composition according to the severity of COVID-19, as well as its degree of relationship to the specific humoral response to SARS-CoV-2 in convalescents up to 106 days after the infection and in their exposed relatives.
METHODS
An applied research was carried out with a cross-section analytical design, from March 11 to June 11, 2020 in Cuba. The sample consisted of 251 convalescents from COVID-19 over 18 years of age and 88 exposed controls who did not become ill. The B and T cell subpopulations, including memory T cells, as well as the relationship with the humoral immune response against SARS-CoV-2, were identified by flow cytometry and enzyme immunoassay.
RESULTS
Convalescent patients, who evolved with severe forms, showed a decrease in frequency and a greater proportion of individuals with values lower than the minimum normal range of B cells, CD3 + CD4 + cells and the CD4 + / CD8 + ratio, as well as a higher frequency and a greater proportion of individuals with values above the normal maximum range of CD3 + CD8 + and NK cells. Convalescent patients with severe forms of COVID-19 that exhibited IgG / RBD titers ≥ 1/200 had a lower frequency of TEMRA CD8 + cells (p = 0.0128) and TEMRA CD4 + (p = 0.0068). IgG / RBD titers were positively correlated with the relative frequency of CD4 + CM T memory cells (r = 0.4352, p = 0.0018).
CONCLUSIONS
The identified alterations of B and T lymphocytes suggest that convalescent patients with the severe disease could be vulnerable to infectious, autoimmune or autotinflammatory processes; therefore, these individuals need medical follow-up after recovering from the acute disease. Furthermore, the role of T cells CD4 + CM in the production of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 is confirmed, and it is noted that the defect of memory T cells CD8 + TEMRA could contribute to the development of severe forms of COVID-19.
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