ABSTRACT
Cell-mediated immunity (CMI), which includes T-cells (both T helper and cytotoxic), is critical for effective antiviral defenses against coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). To better understand the immunological characteristics of CD markers on T-cells in post-COVID-19 patients, we investigated the expression of differential CD markers in the patient groups in this study. Flow cytometry was used to quantify total lymphocyte count and assess the levels of expression of CD markers in the samples. The percentage of Lymphocytes decreased significantly in the post-SARS-COV-2 patients in comparison to normal subjects, which is usually happening in any viral infection. In contrast to that, expression of CD8 was increased in the patient group having long SARS-COV-2 infection with comorbid complications with respect to the normal individuals and long SARS-COV-2 infection without comorbid complications. This data revealed that the cellular immunological responses corroborated with an earlier report of COVID-19 infection were mediated by CD8 upregulation and cytotoxic T lymphocyte hyperactivation.
