Alterations in the immune system persist after one year of convalescence in severe COVID-19 patients

Frontiers in Immunology

Immunology

Eduardo Anguita¹  Carlos Ramos-Acosta¹  Myriam Calle-Rubio²  Tomás Fariña³  Laura Espino-Paisán⁴  Judith Abarca-Zabalía⁴  Elena Urcelay⁴  Adela González-Jiménez⁴  Andrea R. López-Pastor⁴ 

[1] Department of Medicine, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Madrid, Spain;Hematology Department, Instituto de Medicina de Laboratorio, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria San Carlos (IdISSC), Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain;Department of Pneumology, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Hospital Clínico San Carlos (IdISSC), Madrid, Spain;Intensive Care Unit, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain;Laboratorio de Investigación en Genética de Enfermedades Complejas, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Hospital Clínico San Carlos (IdISSC), Madrid, Spain;

关键词: COVID-19;    SARS-CoV-2;    NK cells;    immune system;    activation;    convalescence;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fimmu.2023.1127352

 received in 2022-12-19, accepted in 2023-01-25,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionSevere COVID-19 originates a myriad of alterations in the immune system during active disease, especially in the T and NK cell compartments, but several studies in the last year have unveiled some alterations that persist in convalescence. Although most of the studies follow the participants for a short recovery time, studies following patients up to three or six months still find alterations. We aimed at evaluating changes in the NK, T and B cell compartments after severe COVID-19 in participants with a median recovery time of eleven months.MethodsEighteen convalescent of severe COVID-19 (CSC), 14 convalescent of mild COVID-19 (CMC) and nine controls were recruited. NKG2A, NKG2C, NKG2D and the activating receptor NKp44 were evaluated in NKbright, NKdim and NKT subpopulations. In addition, CD3 and CD19 were measured and a basic biochemistry with IL-6 levels was obtained.ResultsCSC participants showed lower NKbright/NKdim ratio, higher NKp44 expression in NKbright subpopulations, higher levels of serum IL-6, lower levels of NKG2A+ T lymphocytes and a trend to a lower expression of CD19 in B lymphocytes compared to controls. CMC participants showed no significant alterations in the immune system compared to controls.ConclusionsThese results are concordant with previous studies, which find alterations in CSC weeks or months after resolution of the symptoms, and point to the possibility of these alterations lasting one year or more after COVID-19 resolution.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Abarca-Zabalía, González-Jiménez, Calle-Rubio, López-Pastor, Fariña, Ramos-Acosta, Anguita, Urcelay and Espino-Paisán