Host and microbiome features of secondary infections in lethal covid-19.
iScience
; 25(9): 104926, 2022 Sep 16.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1983263
ABSTRACT
Secondary infections contribute significantly to covid-19 mortality but driving factors remain poorly understood. Autopsies of 20 covid-19 cases and 14 controls from the first pandemic wave complemented with microbial cultivation and RNA-seq from lung tissues enabled description of major organ pathologies and specification of secondary infections. Lethal covid-19 segregated into two main death causes with either dominant diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) or secondary pneumonias. The lung microbiome in covid-19 showed a reduced biodiversity and increased prototypical bacterial and fungal pathogens in cases of secondary pneumonias. RNA-seq distinctly mirrored death causes and stratified DAD cases into subgroups with differing cellular compositions identifying myeloid cells, macrophages and complement C1q as strong separating factors suggesting a pathophysiological link. Together with a prominent induction of inhibitory immune-checkpoints our study highlights profound alterations of the lung immunity in covid-19 wherein a reduced antimicrobial defense likely drives development of secondary infections on top of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Observational study
Language:
English
Journal:
IScience
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.isci.2022.104926
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