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Fracella M, Mancino E, Nenna R, Virgillito C, Frasca F, D'Auria A, Sorrentino L, Petrarca L, La Regina D, Matera L, Di Mattia G, Caputo B, Antonelli G, Pierangeli A, Viscidi RP, Midulla F, Scagnolari C. Age-related transcript changes in type I interferon signaling in children and adolescents with long COVID. Eur J Immunol 2024; 54:e2350682. [PMID: 38522030 DOI: 10.1002/eji.202350682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/25/2024]
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 typically causes mild symptoms in children, but evidence suggests that persistent immunopathological changes may lead to long COVID (LC). To explore the interplay between LC and innate immunity, we assessed the type I interferon (IFN-I) response in children and adolescents with LC symptoms (LC; n = 28). This was compared with age-matched SARS-CoV-2 recovered participants without LC symptoms (MC; n = 28) and healthy controls (HC; n = 18). We measured the mRNA expression of IFN-I (IFN-α/β/ε/ω), IFN-I receptor (IFNAR1/2), and ISGs (ISG15, ISG56, MxA, IFI27, BST2, LY6E, OAS1, OAS2, OAS3, and MDA5) in PBMCs collected 3-6 months after COVID-19. LC adolescents (12-17 years) had higher transcript levels of IFN-β, IFN-ε, and IFN-ω than HC, whereas LC children (6-11 years) had lower levels than HC. In adolescents, increased levels of IFN-α, IFN-β, and IFN-ω mRNAs were found in the LC group compared with MC, while lower levels were observed in LC children than MC. Adolescents with neurological symptoms had higher IFN-α/β mRNA levels than MC. LC and MC participants showed decreased expression of ISGs and IFNAR1, but increased expression of IFNAR2, than HC. Our results show age-related changes in the expression of transcripts involved in the IFN-I signaling pathway in children and adolescents with LC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Fracella
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Enrica Mancino
- Department of Pediatrics and Infantile Neuropsychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Raffaella Nenna
- Department of Pediatrics and Infantile Neuropsychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Chiara Virgillito
- Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Federica Frasca
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Alessandra D'Auria
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Leonardo Sorrentino
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Laura Petrarca
- Department of Pediatrics and Infantile Neuropsychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Domenico La Regina
- Department of Pediatrics and Infantile Neuropsychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Luigi Matera
- Department of Pediatrics and Infantile Neuropsychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Greta Di Mattia
- Department of Pediatrics and Infantile Neuropsychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Beniamino Caputo
- Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Guido Antonelli
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Alessandra Pierangeli
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Raphael P Viscidi
- Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Fabio Midulla
- Department of Pediatrics and Infantile Neuropsychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Carolina Scagnolari
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory of Virology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
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