Persistent immune abnormalities discriminate post-COVID syndrome from convalescence

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2024年2月7日

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Julia Sbierski-Kind,
Stephan Schlickeiser,
Svenja Feldmann,
Veronica Ober,
Eva Grüner,
Claire Pleimelding,
Leonard Gilberg,
Isabel Brand,
Nikolas Weigl,
Mohamed I. M. Ahmed,
Gerardo Ibarra,
Michael Ruzicka,
Christopher Benesch,
Anna Pernpruner,
Elisabeth Valdinoci,
Michael Hoelscher,
Kristina Adorjan,
Hans Christian Stubbe,
Michael Pritsch,
Ulrich Seybold,
Julia Roider

摘要

Background

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are key organizers of tissue immune responses and regulate tissue development, repair, and pathology. Persistent clinical sequelae beyond 12 weeks following acute COVID-19 disease, named post-COVID syndrome (PCS), are increasingly recognized in convalescent individuals. ILCs have been associated with the severity of COVID-19 symptoms but their role in the development of PCS remains poorly defined.

Methods and results

Here, we used multiparametric immune phenotyping, finding expanded circulating ILC precursors (ILCPs) and concurrent decreased group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) in PCS patients compared to well-matched convalescent control groups at > 3 months after infection or healthy controls. Patients with PCS showed elevated expression of chemokines and cytokines associated with trafficking of immune cells (CCL19/MIP-3b, FLT3-ligand), endothelial inflammation and repair (CXCL1, EGF, RANTES, IL-1RA, PDGF-AA).

Conclusion

These results define immunological parameters associated with PCS and might help find biomarkers and disease-relevant therapeutic strategies.