Tissue Typing and Immunology Laboratory, Istanbul Memorial Şişli Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Istanbul Memorial Şişli Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
Cytometry B Clin Cytom. 2022 Mar;102(2):153-167. doi: 10.1002/cyto.b.22042. Epub 2021 Nov 30.
A better understanding of innate and adaptive cells in COVID-19 is necessary for the development of effective treatment methods and vaccines.
We studied phenotypic features of innate and adaptive immune cells, oxidative burst, phagocytosis, and apoptosis. One hundred and three patients with COVID-19 were grouped according to their clinical features into the categories of mild (35%), moderate (40.8%), and severe (24.3%).
Monocytes were CD16 pro-inflammatory monocytes and tended to shed their HLA-DR, especially in severe cases (p < 0.01). Neutrophils were mature and functional, although a decline of their CD10 and CD16 was observed (p < 0.01). No defect was found in the reactive oxygen species production and their apoptosis. The percentage of natural killer cells was in the normal range, whereas the percentages of CD8 NK and CD56 T lymphocytes were found to be high (p < 0.01). Although the absolute numbers of all lymphocyte subsets were low and showed a tendency for a gradual decrease in accordance with the disease progression, the most decreased absolute number was that of B lymphocytes, followed by CD4 T cells in the severe cases. The percentages of double-negative T cells; HLA-DR CD3 and CD28 CD8 subsets were found to be significantly increased. Importantly, we demonstrated the increased baseline activation of caspase-3 and increased lymphocyte apoptosis.
We suggest that SARS-CoV-2 primarily affects the lymphocytes and not the innate cells. The increased baseline activation of Caspase-3 could make the COVID-19 lymphocytes more vulnerable to cell death. Therefore, this may interrupt the crosstalk between the adaptive and innate immune systems.
为了开发有效的治疗方法和疫苗，有必要更好地了解 COVID-19 中的先天和适应性细胞。
我们研究了先天和适应性免疫细胞、氧化爆发、吞噬作用和细胞凋亡的表型特征。根据临床特征，我们将 103 例 COVID-19 患者分为轻度（35%）、中度（40.8%）和重度（24.3%）。
单核细胞是 CD16 促炎性单核细胞，并且倾向于脱落其 HLA-DR，尤其是在严重病例中（p<0.01）。中性粒细胞成熟且功能正常，尽管观察到其 CD10 和 CD16 下降（p<0.01）。未发现活性氧物质产生及其凋亡缺陷。自然杀伤细胞的百分比在正常范围内，而 CD8 NK 和 CD56 T 淋巴细胞的百分比较高（p<0.01）。尽管所有淋巴细胞亚群的绝对数量较低，并且随着疾病的进展呈逐渐下降的趋势，但绝对数量下降最明显的是 B 淋巴细胞，其次是严重病例中的 CD4 T 细胞。双阴性 T 细胞；HLA-DR CD3 和 CD28 CD8 亚群的百分比明显增加。重要的是，我们证明了 caspase-3 的基础激活增加和淋巴细胞凋亡增加。
我们认为 SARS-CoV-2 主要影响淋巴细胞，而不是先天细胞。Caspase-3 的基础激活增加可能使 COVID-19 淋巴细胞更容易发生细胞死亡。因此，这可能会中断适应性和先天免疫系统之间的串扰。
