Ambrus Mira, Fodor Eszter, Berki Timea, Müller Veronika, Uhlár Ádám, Hornyák István, Lacza Zsombor
Research Center for Sport Physiology, Hungarian University of Sports Sciences, 1123 Budapest, Hungary.
Department of Immunology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Pécs, 7624 Pécs, Hungary.
Sports (Basel). 2023 Apr 30;11(5):97. doi: 10.3390/sports11050097.
Professional athletes are endangered by COVID-19 and belong to the high-risk population due to their lifestyle. To obtain information on the behavior of COVID-19 in professional athletes, serological, cytokine, and virus neutralization capacities were analyzed.
Hungarian national teams participated in international sports events during the early phases of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020. Altogether, 29 professional athletes volunteered to donate plasma. Their serological status was evaluated by IgA, IgM, and IgG ELISAs and the highest virus neutralization titer in an in vitro live tissue assay. Plasma cytokine patterns were analyzed with a Bioplex multiplex ELISA system.
Surprisingly, only one athlete (3%) had anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG, while IgA was more common (31%). Neither plasma showed direct virus neutralization in a titer over 1:10; hence, they were not suitable for reconvalescent treatment. The 'cytokine storm' markers IL-6 and IL-8 were at baseline levels. In contrast, either the TNF-alpha-related cytokines or the IFN-gamma-associated cytokines were elevated. There was a strong negative correlation between the TNF-alpha- or IFN-gamma-related cytokines.
Professional athletes are susceptible to the SARS-CoV-2 infection without developing long-term immunity through neutralizing immunoglobulins. Elevated secretory and cellular immunity markers indicate that these systems are probably responsible for virus elimination in this subpopulation.
职业运动员受新冠病毒影响且因其生活方式属于高危人群。为获取新冠病毒在职业运动员中的行为信息，对血清学、细胞因子及病毒中和能力进行了分析。
匈牙利国家队在2020年新冠疫情早期参加了国际体育赛事。共有29名职业运动员自愿捐献血浆。通过IgA、IgM和IgG酶联免疫吸附测定法（ELISA）以及体外活组织检测中的最高病毒中和滴度评估他们的血清学状态。用Bioplex多重ELISA系统分析血浆细胞因子模式。
令人惊讶的是，只有一名运动员（3%）有抗SARS-CoV-2 IgG，而IgA更为常见（31%）。血浆在滴度超过1:10时均未显示直接病毒中和作用；因此，它们不适合用于康复治疗。“细胞因子风暴”标志物白细胞介素-6（IL-6）和白细胞介素-8（IL-8）处于基线水平。相比之下，肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）相关细胞因子或干扰素-γ（IFN-γ）相关细胞因子升高。TNF-α或IFN-γ相关细胞因子之间存在强烈的负相关。
职业运动员易感染SARS-CoV-2，且无法通过中和性免疫球蛋白产生长期免疫力。分泌性和细胞免疫标志物升高表明这些系统可能负责该亚人群中的病毒清除。
