Antonella Minutolo, Vita Petrone, Marialaura Fanelli, Christian Maracchioni, Martina Giudice, Elisabetta Teti, Luigi Coppola, Chiara Sorace, Marco Iannetta, Martino Tony Miele, Sergio Bernardini, Antonio Mastino, Paola Sinibaldi Vallebona, Emanuela Balestrieri, Massimo Andreoni, Loredana Sarmati, Sandro Grelli, Enrico Garaci, Claudia Matteucci. Thymosin Alpha 1 Restores the Immune Homeostasis in lymphocytes during Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Int Immunopharmacol 2023:110055. [PMID:
36989892 PMCID:
PMC10030336 DOI:
10.1016/j.intimp.2023.110055]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 03/24/2023]
Abstract
The complex alterations of the immune system and the immune-mediated multiorgan injury plays a key role in host response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and in the pathogenesis of COVID-19, being also associated with adverse outcomes. Thymosin alpha 1 (Tα1) is one of the molecules used in the treatment of COVID-19, as it is known to restore the homeostasis of the immune system during infections and cancer. The use of Tα1 in COVID-19 patients had been widely used in China and in COVID-19 patients, it has been shown to decrease hospitalization rate, especially in those with greater disease severity, and reduce mortality by restoring lymphocytopenia and more specifically, depleted T cells. Persistent dysregulation with depletion of naive B and T cell subpopulations and expansion of memory T cells suggest a chronic stimulation of the immune response in individuals with post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). Our data obtained from an ex vivo study, showed that in PASC individuals with a chronically altered immune response, Tα1 improve the restoration of an appropriate response, most evident in those with more severe illness and who need respiratory support during acute phase, and in those with specific systemic and psychiatric symptoms of PASC, confirming Tα1 treatment being more effective in compromised patients. The results obtained, along with promising reports on recent trials on Tα1 administration in patients with COVID-19, offer new insights into intervention also for those patients with long-lasting inflammation with post-infectious symptoms, some of which have a delayed onset.
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