Authors: Giamarellos-Bouboulis EJ, Netea MG, Rovina N, Akinosoglou K, Antoniadou A, Antonakos N et al.
PMID: 32320677 PMCID: PMC7172841 DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2020.04.009
Abstract
Proper management of COVID-19 mandates better understanding of disease pathogenesis. The sudden clinical deterioration 7-8 days after initial symptom onset suggests that severe respiratory failure (SRF) in COVID-19 is driven by a unique pattern of immune dysfunction. We studied immune responses of 54 COVID-19 patients, 28 of whom had SRF. All patients with SRF displayed either macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) or very low human leukocyte antigen D related (HLA-DR) expression accompanied by profound depletion of CD4 lymphocytes, CD19 lymphocytes, and natural killer (NK) cells. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) production by circulating monocytes was sustained, a pattern distinct from bacterial sepsis or influenza. SARS-CoV-2 patient plasma inhibited HLA-DR expression, and this was partially restored by the IL-6 blocker Tocilizumab; off-label Tocilizumab treatment of patients was accompanied by increase in circulating lymphocytes. Thus, the unique pattern of immune dysregulation in severe COVID-19 is characterized by IL-6-mediated low HLA-DR expression and lymphopenia, associated with sustained cytokine production and hyper-inflammation.
Keywords: COVID-19; HLA-DR; SARS-CoV-2; dysregulation; ferritin; interleukin-6; lymphopenia; macrophage activation; monocytes; respiratory failure.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32320677/
Archive: https://archive.ph/6ORPt
