SARS-CoV-2 infection results in a spectrum of outcomes from no symptoms to widely varying degrees of illness to death. A better understanding of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and subsequent, often excessive, inflammation may inform treatment decisions and reveal opportunities for therapy. We studied immune cell subpopulations and their associations with clinical parameters in a cohort of 26 patients with COVID-19. Following informed consent, we collected blood samples from hospitalized patients with COVID-19 within 72 h of admission. Flow cytometry was used to analyze white blood cell subpopulations. Plasma levels of cytokines and chemokines were measured using ELISA. Neutrophils undergoing neutrophil extracellular traps (NET) formation were evaluated in blood smears. We examined the immunophenotype of patients with COVID-19 in comparison to that of SARS-CoV-2 negative controls. A novel subset of pro-inflammatory neutrophils expressing a high level of dual endothelin-1 and VEGF signal peptide-activated receptor (DEspR) at the cell surface was found to be associated with elevated circulating CCL23, increased NETosis, and critical-severity COVID-19 illness. The potential to target this subpopulation of neutrophils to reduce secondary tissue damage caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection warrants further investigation.
【저자키워드】 immunology, Diseases, 【초록키워드】 Treatment, SARS-CoV-2, Inflammation, immune response, therapy, SARS-COV-2 infection, neutrophil, cytokine, outcome, CCL23, ELISA, chemokine, Cohort, White blood cell, death, Neutrophil extracellular trap, NETosis, receptor, Admission, Blood, association, Immune cell, Cytometry, Flow, no symptom, tissue damage, negative controls, blood sample, COVID-19 illness, VEGF, circulating, subpopulations, subpopulation, clinical parameter, pro-inflammatory, NET, Cell, was used, collected, examined, caused, subsequent, evaluated, elevated, hospitalized patient, reduce, expressing, subset, were measured, patients with COVID-19, Plasma level, with COVID-19, 【제목키워드】 COVID-19, neutrophil, Critical,