Lymphocyte Subset Alteration and Monocyte CD4 Expression Reduction in Patients with Severe COVID-19.
Viral Immunol
; 34(5): 342-351, 2021 06.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1343608
ABSTRACT
The spectrum of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity, related to cellular immune functions, has not been fully clarified yet. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the alteration of peripheral blood cells in patients with COVID-19. The flow cytometric characterization of immune cell subset was performed on 69 COVID-19 patients and 21 healthy controls. These data were evaluated based on the disease severity. A total of 69 patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) were classified as asymptomatic infection (n = 14), nonsevere (n = 39), and severe (n = 16) groups. Decreased lymphocytes and increased CD14 + 4- monocytes are found in patients with severe COVID-19. Decreased CD4 expression level was observed in the monocytes of patients with severe COVID-19. The total lymphocytes, B and T lymphocytes, CD4+ cells and CD8+ cells, and natural killer (NK) and natural killer T (NKT) cells were found to be decreased in patients with severe COVID-19. The CD4+/CD8+ ratio was not significantly different between patients with COVID-19 and healthy controls. The percentage of activated T cells (CD3+HLA-DR+) and B cells (CD19+CD38+) was lower in patients with severe COVID-19. Age and CD4- monocytes were independent predictors of disease severity. The SARS-CoV-2 infection may affect lymphocyte subsets, resulting in decreased T and B cells, monocytes, and NK and NKT cells. Decreased CD4 expression level by monocytes was significantly correlated with disease severity. Further studies on the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection are necessary to predict the disease severity and protect against the virus.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Severity of Illness Index
/
Monocytes
/
CD4 Antigens
/
Lymphocyte Subsets
/
COVID-19
/
Immunity, Cellular
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
/
Young adult
Language:
English
Journal:
Viral Immunol
Journal subject:
Allergy and Immunology
/
Virology
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Vim.2020.0166
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