Knowledge about the immune responses against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, particularly regarding the function of eosinophils, has been steadily emerging recently. There exists controversy regarding the implications of eosinophils in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)’s pathology. We report a retrospective cohort study including the comparison of leukocyte counts in COVID-19 patients, considering the outcomes of recovery ( n = 59) and death ( n = 60). Among the different types of leukocytes, the eosinophil counts were those that showed the greatest difference between recovered and deceased patients. Eosinopenia (eosinophil count < 0.01 × 10 9 /L) was more frequently observed in deceased than recovered patients ( p = 0.0012). The eosinophil counts more rapidly increased and showed a greater proportion over the course of the disease in the recovered than deceased patients. Furthermore, the estimated survival rate was greater in patients without eosinopenia than in patients with eosinopenia ( p = 0.0070) during hospitalization. Importantly, recovered but not deceased patients showed high negative correlations of the eosinophils with the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and neutrophil counts at Day 9 of the onset of clinical symptoms ( p ≤ 0.0220). Our analysis suggests that eosinopenia may be associated with unfavorable disease outcomes and that the eosinophils have a beneficial function in COVID-19 patients, probably contributing by controlling the exacerbated inflammation induced by neutrophils.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Neutrophils, Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, eosinophils, white blood cell differential counts, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus disease, Neutrophils, SARS-CoV-2, Inflammation, pathology, Coronavirus disease 2019, coronavirus, immune response, Clinical symptoms, Hospitalization, neutrophil, Infection, outcome, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, eosinophil, Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, lymphocyte, eosinophils, immune responses, Patient, death, survival rate, recovered patients, respiratory, disease, patients, COVID-19 patients, leukocytes, Eosinophil count, Eosinopenia, NLR, Analysis, Deceased, eosinophil counts, leukocyte, retrospective cohort study, acute respiratory syndrome, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, clinical symptom, neutrophil count, negative correlation, neutrophil counts, implication, recovered patient, Course, greater, proportion, the disease, Day, exacerbated, 【제목키워드】 Behavior, recovered, count,