The interferon landscape along the respiratory tract impacts the severity of COVID-19.
Cell
; 184(19): 4953-4968.e16, 2021 09 16.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1363913
ABSTRACT
Severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is characterized by overproduction of immune mediators, but the role of interferons (IFNs) of the type I (IFN-I) or type III (IFN-III) families remains debated. We scrutinized the production of IFNs along the respiratory tract of COVID-19 patients and found that high levels of IFN-III, and to a lesser extent IFN-I, characterize the upper airways of patients with high viral burden but reduced disease risk or severity. Production of specific IFN-III, but not IFN-I, members denotes patients with a mild pathology and efficiently drives the transcription of genes that protect against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In contrast, compared to subjects with other infectious or noninfectious lung pathologies, IFNs are overrepresented in the lower airways of patients with severe COVID-19 that exhibit gene pathways associated with increased apoptosis and decreased proliferation. Our data demonstrate a dynamic production of IFNs in SARS-CoV-2-infected patients and show IFNs play opposing roles at distinct anatomical sites.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Respiratory System
/
Severity of Illness Index
/
Interferons
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Cell
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.cell.2021.08.016
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