Characteristics of lymphocyte subset alterations in COVID-19 patients with different levels of disease severity
Abstract Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory disorder caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which had rapidly spread all over the world and caused public health emergencies in the past two years. Although the diagnosis and treatment for C...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Virology Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-022-01926-8 |
| _version_ | 1811189450006331392 |
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| author | Wei Dai Aifang Zhong Qinghua Qiao Jian Wu Weiwei Li Qiuyue Wu Hongjian Zhou Shijie Qin Weijun Jiang Jing Zhang Xinyi Xia |
| author_facet | Wei Dai Aifang Zhong Qinghua Qiao Jian Wu Weiwei Li Qiuyue Wu Hongjian Zhou Shijie Qin Weijun Jiang Jing Zhang Xinyi Xia |
| author_sort | Wei Dai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory disorder caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which had rapidly spread all over the world and caused public health emergencies in the past two years. Although the diagnosis and treatment for COVID-19 have been well defined, the immune cell characteristics and the key lymphocytes subset alterations in COVID-19 patients have not been thoroughly investigated. Methods The levels of immune cells including T cells, B cells, and natural killer (NK) cells in 548 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and 30 types of lymphocyte subsets in 125 hospitalized COVID-19 patients admitted to Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital of China were measured using flow cytometry. The relationship between lymphocytes subsets with the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) and the characteristics of lymphocyte subsets in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data obtained from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were also analysed in COVID-19 patients. Results In this study, we found that patients with critical COVID-19 infection exhibited an overall decline in lymphocytes including CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, total T cells, B cells, and NK cells compared to mild and severe patients. However, the number of lymphocyte subsets, such as CD21low CD38low B cells, effector T4 cells, and PD1+ depleted T8 cells, was moderately increased in critical COVID-19 patients compared to mild cases. Notably, except for effector memory T4 cells, plasma blasts and Tregs, the number of all lymphocyte subsets was markedly decreased in COVID-19 patients with IL-6 levels over 30-fold higher than those in healthy cases. Moreover, scRNA-seq data showed obvious differences in the distribution and numbers of lymphocyte subsets between COVID-19 patients and healthy persons, and subsets-specific marker genes of lymphocyte subsets including CD4, CD19, CCR7, and IL7R, were markedly decreased in COVID-19 patients compared with those in healthy cases. Conclusion A comprehensive decrease in immune cell and lymphocyte subsets in critical COVID-19 patients, and peripheral lymphocyte subset alterations showed a clear association with clinical characteristics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T14:35:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3d984695a7d341febf88425b4fdcf296 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1743-422X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T14:35:01Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Virology Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-3d984695a7d341febf88425b4fdcf2962022-12-22T04:18:21ZengBMCVirology Journal1743-422X2022-11-0119111410.1186/s12985-022-01926-8Characteristics of lymphocyte subset alterations in COVID-19 patients with different levels of disease severityWei Dai0Aifang Zhong1Qinghua Qiao2Jian Wu3Weiwei Li4Qiuyue Wu5Hongjian Zhou6Shijie Qin7Weijun Jiang8Jing Zhang9Xinyi Xia10Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of MedicineDepartment of Laboratory Medicine and Blood Transfusion, Wuhan Huoshenshan HospitalDepartment of Laboratory Medicine and Blood Transfusion, Wuhan Huoshenshan HospitalInstitute of Laboratory Medicine, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of MedicineInstitute of Laboratory Medicine, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of MedicineInstitute of Laboratory Medicine, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of MedicineInstitute of Laboratory Medicine, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of MedicineInstitute of Laboratory Medicine, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of MedicineInstitute of Laboratory Medicine, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of MedicineInstitute of Laboratory Medicine, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of MedicineInstitute of Laboratory Medicine, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of MedicineAbstract Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory disorder caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which had rapidly spread all over the world and caused public health emergencies in the past two years. Although the diagnosis and treatment for COVID-19 have been well defined, the immune cell characteristics and the key lymphocytes subset alterations in COVID-19 patients have not been thoroughly investigated. Methods The levels of immune cells including T cells, B cells, and natural killer (NK) cells in 548 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and 30 types of lymphocyte subsets in 125 hospitalized COVID-19 patients admitted to Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital of China were measured using flow cytometry. The relationship between lymphocytes subsets with the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) and the characteristics of lymphocyte subsets in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data obtained from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were also analysed in COVID-19 patients. Results In this study, we found that patients with critical COVID-19 infection exhibited an overall decline in lymphocytes including CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, total T cells, B cells, and NK cells compared to mild and severe patients. However, the number of lymphocyte subsets, such as CD21low CD38low B cells, effector T4 cells, and PD1+ depleted T8 cells, was moderately increased in critical COVID-19 patients compared to mild cases. Notably, except for effector memory T4 cells, plasma blasts and Tregs, the number of all lymphocyte subsets was markedly decreased in COVID-19 patients with IL-6 levels over 30-fold higher than those in healthy cases. Moreover, scRNA-seq data showed obvious differences in the distribution and numbers of lymphocyte subsets between COVID-19 patients and healthy persons, and subsets-specific marker genes of lymphocyte subsets including CD4, CD19, CCR7, and IL7R, were markedly decreased in COVID-19 patients compared with those in healthy cases. Conclusion A comprehensive decrease in immune cell and lymphocyte subsets in critical COVID-19 patients, and peripheral lymphocyte subset alterations showed a clear association with clinical characteristics.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-022-01926-8COVID-19Immune cellsLymphocyte subsetsIL-6scRNA-seq |
| spellingShingle | Wei Dai Aifang Zhong Qinghua Qiao Jian Wu Weiwei Li Qiuyue Wu Hongjian Zhou Shijie Qin Weijun Jiang Jing Zhang Xinyi Xia Characteristics of lymphocyte subset alterations in COVID-19 patients with different levels of disease severity Virology Journal COVID-19 Immune cells Lymphocyte subsets IL-6 scRNA-seq |
| title | Characteristics of lymphocyte subset alterations in COVID-19 patients with different levels of disease severity |
| title_full | Characteristics of lymphocyte subset alterations in COVID-19 patients with different levels of disease severity |
| title_fullStr | Characteristics of lymphocyte subset alterations in COVID-19 patients with different levels of disease severity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characteristics of lymphocyte subset alterations in COVID-19 patients with different levels of disease severity |
| title_short | Characteristics of lymphocyte subset alterations in COVID-19 patients with different levels of disease severity |
| title_sort | characteristics of lymphocyte subset alterations in covid 19 patients with different levels of disease severity |
| topic | COVID-19 Immune cells Lymphocyte subsets IL-6 scRNA-seq |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-022-01926-8 |
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