Short and long-term immune changes in different severity groups of COVID-19 disease.
Int J Infect Dis 2022;
122:776-784. [PMID:
35840099 PMCID:
PMC9284586 DOI:
10.1016/j.ijid.2022.07.026]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2022] [Revised: 07/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
There are limited data on short- versus long-term changes in adaptive immune response across different COVID-19 disease severity groups.
METHODS
A multicenter prospective study of 140 adult patients with COVID-19 (a total of 325 samples) were analyzed for inflammatory markers and lymphocyte subsets at presentation, week 2, and week 24.
RESULTS
Inflammatory markers at presentation were higher in the critical/severe than in moderate and mild groups. A predominance of memory B cell response in the mild and moderate group was noted by week 2. In contrast, the immune system in the severe/critical group was dysfunctional, with expansion of exhausted CD8+ T cells and atypical memory B cells. By 24 weeks, there was a possible trend of normalization.
CONCLUSION
There was substantial difference in the degree of inflammation and distribution of different B and T cell subsets in the different disease severity groups. Despite the initial dysfunctional immune response in the severe/critical group, a comparable memory B and CD8+ T cell responses to the mild group was achieved at 24 weeks.
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