SARS-CoV-2-reactive interferon-γ-producing CD8+ T cells in patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019.
J Med Virol
; 93(1): 375-382, 2021 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1196391
ABSTRACT
There is limited information on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) T-cell immune responses in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells may be instrumental in resolution of and protection from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here, we tested 25 hospitalized patients either with microbiologically documented COVID-19 (n = 19) or highly suspected of having the disease (n = 6) for presence of SARS-CoV-2-reactive CD69+ expressing interferon-γ (IFN-γ) producing CD8+ T cells using flow-cytometry for intracellular cytokine staining assay. Two sets of overlapping peptides encompassing the SARS-CoV-2 Spike glycoprotein N-terminal 1 to 643 amino acid sequence and the entire sequence of SARS-CoV-2 M protein were used simultaneously as antigenic stimulus. Ten patients (40%) had detectable responses, displaying frequencies ranging from 0.15 to 2.7% (median of 0.57 cells/µL; range, 0.43-9.98 cells/µL). The detection rate of SARS-CoV-2-reactive IFN-γ CD8+ T cells in patients admitted to intensive care was comparable (P = .28) to the rate in patients hospitalized in other medical wards. No correlation was found between SARS-CoV-2-reactive IFN-γ CD8+ T-cell counts and SARS-CoV-2 S-specific antibody levels. Likewise, no correlation was observed between either SARS-CoV-2-reactive IFN-γ CD8+ T cells or S-specific immunoglobulin G-antibody titers and blood cell count or levels of inflammatory biomarkers. In summary, in this descriptive, preliminary study we showed that SARS-CoV-2-reactive IFN-γ CD8+ T cells can be detected in a non-negligible percentage of patients with moderate to severe forms of COVID-19. Further studies are warranted to determine whether quantitation of these T-cell subsets may provide prognostic information on the clinical course of COVID-19.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Interferon-gamma
/
CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
English
Journal:
J Med Virol
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Jmv.26213
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