ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Passive immunization against SARS-CoV-2 limits viral burden and death from COVID-19; however, it poses a theoretical risk of disease exacerbation through antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE). ADE after anti-SARS-CoV2 antibody treatment has not been reported, and therefore the potential risk and promoting factors remain unknown. CASE PRESENTATION: A 75-year-old female was admitted to the emergency room with recurrent, unexplained bruises and leukocytopenia, anemia, and thrombocytopenia. Evaluation of a bone marrow biopsy established the diagnosis of an acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing of nasal and throat swabs on admission was negative. During the routine SARS-CoV-2 testing of inpatients, our patient tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on day 14 after admission without typical COVID-19 symptoms. Due to disease- and therapy-related immunosuppression and advanced age conferring a high risk of progressing to severe COVID-19, casirivimab and imdevimab were administered as a preemptive approach. The patient developed immune activation and cytokine release syndrome (CRS) occurring within four hours of preemptive anti-SARS-CoV2 antibody (casirivimab/imdevimab) infusion. Immune activation and CRS were evidenced by a rapid increase in serum cytokines (IL-6, TNFα, IL-8, IL-10), acute respiratory insufficiency, and progressive acute respiratory distress syndrome. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The temporal relationship between therapeutic antibody administration and the rapid laboratory, radiological, and clinical deterioration suggests that CRS was an antibody-related adverse event, potentially exacerbated by APL treatment-mediated differentiation of leukemic blasts and promyelocytes. This case highlights the need for careful assessment of life-threatening adverse events after passive SARS-CoV-2 immunization, especially in the clinical context of patients with complex immune and hematological landscapes.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute , Respiratory Distress Syndrome , Aged , Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized , COVID-19/complications , COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19 Testing , Cytokine Release Syndrome/diagnosis , Cytokine Release Syndrome/drug therapy , Cytokine Release Syndrome/etiology , Female , Humans , Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute/complications , Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute/diagnosis , Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute/drug therapy , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has so far claimed over three and a half million lives worldwide. Though the SARS-CoV-2 mediated disease COVID-19 has first been characterized by an infection of the upper airways and the lung, recent evidence suggests a complex disease including gastrointestinal symptoms. Even if a direct viral tropism of intestinal cells has recently been demonstrated, it remains unclear, whether gastrointestinal symptoms are caused by direct infection of the gastrointestinal tract by SARS-CoV-2 or whether they are a consequence of a systemic immune activation and subsequent modulation of the mucosal immune system. To better understand the cause of intestinal symptoms we analyzed biopsies of the small intestine from SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals. Applying qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, we detected SARS-CoV-2 RNA and nucleocapsid protein in duodenal mucosa. In addition, applying imaging mass cytometry and immunohistochemistry, we identified histomorphological changes of the epithelium, which were characterized by an accumulation of activated intraepithelial CD8+ T cells as well as epithelial apoptosis and subsequent regenerative proliferation in the small intestine of COVID-19 patients. In summary, our findings indicate that intraepithelial CD8+ T cells are activated upon infection of intestinal epithelial cells with SARS-CoV-2, providing one possible explanation for gastrointestinal symptoms associated with COVID-19.
Subject(s)
CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/immunology , COVID-19/immunology , Duodenum/immunology , Immunity, Mucosal , Intestinal Diseases/immunology , Intestinal Mucosa/immunology , Intraepithelial Lymphocytes/immunology , Lymphocyte Activation , SARS-CoV-2/immunology , Adult , Aged , Animals , Apoptosis , CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/virology , COVID-19/pathology , COVID-19/virology , Case-Control Studies , Cell Proliferation , Chlorocebus aethiops , Duodenum/pathology , Duodenum/virology , Female , Host-Pathogen Interactions , Humans , Intestinal Diseases/pathology , Intestinal Diseases/virology , Intestinal Mucosa/pathology , Intestinal Mucosa/virology , Intraepithelial Lymphocytes/virology , Male , Re-Epithelialization , SARS-CoV-2/pathogenicity , Vero Cells , Viral LoadABSTRACT
Viral infections with SARS-CoV-2 can cause a multi-facetted disease, which is not only characterized by pneumonia and overwhelming systemic inflammatory immune responses, but which can also directly affect the digestive system and infect intestinal epithelial cells. Here, we review the current understanding of intestinal tropism of SARS-CoV-2 infection, its impact on mucosal function and immunology and summarize the effect of immune-suppression in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on disease outcome of COVID-19 and discuss IBD-relevant implications for the clinical management of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals.