ABSTRACT
Study of immunological features of immune response in 14 children (aged from 12 days up to 15 years) and of 10 adults who developed COVID-19 show increased number of activated CD4 and CD8 cells expressing DR and higher plasmatic levels of IL-12 and IL-1ß in adults with COVID-19, but not in children. In addition, plasmatic levels of CCL5/RANTES are higher in children and adults with COVID-19, while CXCL9/MIG was only increased in adults. Higher number of activated T cells and expression of IL-12 and CXCL9 suggest prominent Th1 polarization of immune response against SARS-CoV2 in infected adults as compared with children.
Subject(s)
CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/immunology , CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/immunology , COVID-19/blood , Chemokines/blood , SARS-CoV-2/immunology , Adolescent , COVID-19/immunology , COVID-19/pathology , Chemokine CCL2/blood , Chemokine CCL5/blood , Chemokine CXCL10/blood , Chemokine CXCL9/blood , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Interleukin-8/blood , Lymphocyte Activation , Lymphocyte Count , Lymphopenia/pathology , Male , T-Lymphocyte Subsets/immunologyABSTRACT
A multiple sclerosis patient infected by SARS-CoV-2 during fingolimod therapy was hospitalized with moderate clinical features, and recovered in 15 days. High levels of CCL5 and CCL10 chemokines and of antibody-secreting B cells were detected, while the levels other B- and T-cell subsets were comparable to that of appropriate controls. However, CD4+ and CD8+ cells were oligoclonally expanded and prone to apoptosis when stimulated in vitro. This study suggests that fingolimod-immunosuppressed patients, despite the low circulating lymphocytes, may rapidly expand antibody-secreting cells and mount an effective immune response that favors COVID-19 recovery after drug discontinuation.