Department of Pharmacological and Biomedical Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Carlo Pascal, 36, Milano, 20133, Italy.
Department of Advanced Translational Microbiology, Institute for Maternal and Child Health-IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, Via dell'Istria, 65, Trieste, 34137, Italy.
BMC Immunol. 2024 Jul 26;25(1):49. doi: 10.1186/s12865-024-00641-z.
The systemic inflammatory syndrome called "cytokine storm" has been described in COVID-19 pathogenesis, contributing to disease severity. The analysis of cytokine and chemokine levels in the blood of 21 SARS-CoV-2 positive patients throughout the phases of the pandemic has been studied to understand immune response dysregulation and identify potential disease biomarkers for new treatments. The present work reports the cytokine and chemokine levels in sera from a small cohort of individuals primarily infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Milan (Italy).
Among the 27 cytokines and chemokines investigated, a significant higher expression of Interleukin-9 (IL-9), IP-10 (CXCL10), MCP-1 (CCL2) and RANTES (CCL-5) in infected patients compared to uninfected subjects was observed. When the change in cytokine/chemokine levels was monitored over time, from the hospitalization day to discharge, only IL-6 and IP-10 showed a significant decrease. Consistent with these findings, a significant negative correlation was observed between IP-10 and anti-Spike IgG antibodies in infected individuals. In contrast, IL-17 was positively correlated with the production of IgG against SARS-CoV-2.
The cytokine storm and the modulation of cytokine levels by SARS-CoV-2 infection are hallmarks of COVID-19. The current global immunity profile largely stems from widespread vaccination campaigns and previous infection exposures. Consequently, the immunological features and dynamic cytokine profiles of non-vaccinated and primarily-infected subjects reported here provide novel insights into the inflammatory immune landscape in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and offer valuable knowledge for addressing future viral infections and the development of novel treatments.
在 COVID-19 发病机制中已经描述了一种称为“细胞因子风暴”的全身性炎症综合征，它导致疾病的严重程度。在整个大流行期间，对 21 名 SARS-CoV-2 阳性患者的血液中的细胞因子和趋化因子水平进行了分析，以了解免疫反应失调并确定新治疗方法的潜在疾病生物标志物。本研究报告了 SARS-CoV-2 主要感染个体的小队列血清中的细胞因子和趋化因子水平，这些个体在米兰（意大利）COVID-19 大流行的第一波期间感染了 SARS-CoV-2。
在所研究的 27 种细胞因子和趋化因子中，与未感染的对照组相比，感染患者的白细胞介素 9（IL-9）、IP-10（CXCL10）、MCP-1（CCL2）和 RANTES（CCL-5）表达显著更高。当监测细胞因子/趋化因子水平随时间的变化时，从住院日到出院，只有 IL-6 和 IP-10 显示出显著下降。与这些发现一致的是，在感染个体中观察到 IP-10 与抗刺突 IgG 抗体之间存在显著负相关。相反，IL-17 与针对 SARS-CoV-2 的 IgG 产生呈正相关。
细胞因子风暴和 SARS-CoV-2 感染对细胞因子水平的调节是 COVID-19 的特征。当前的全球免疫概况主要源于广泛的疫苗接种运动和以前的感染暴露。因此，此处报告的未接种和主要感染个体的免疫特征和动态细胞因子谱为 SARS-CoV-2 感染背景下的炎症免疫景观提供了新的见解，并为应对未来的病毒感染和新型治疗方法的开发提供了有价值的知识。
