Summary
Some patients hospitalized with acute COVID-19 suffer respiratory symptoms that persist for many months. We delineated the immune-proteomic landscape in the airways and peripheral blood of healthy controls and post-COVID-19 patients 3 to 6 months after hospital discharge. Post-COVID-19 patients showed abnormal airway (but not plasma) proteomes, with an elevated concentration of proteins associated with apoptosis, tissue repair, and epithelial injury versus healthy individuals. Increased numbers of cytotoxic lymphocytes were observed in individuals with greater airway dysfunction, while increased B cell numbers and altered monocyte subsets were associated with more widespread lung abnormalities. A one-year follow-up of some post-COVID-19 patients indicated that these abnormalities resolved over time. In summary, COVID-19 causes a prolonged change to the airway immune landscape in those with persistent lung disease, with evidence of cell death and tissue repair linked to the ongoing activation of cytotoxic T cells.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, proteomics, T cells, Long COVID, respiratory tract, respiratory viral infection, airways, tissue-resident memory, 【초록키워드】 Apoptosis, Lung disease, immune, airway, monocyte, Peripheral blood, B cell, Protein, lymphocyte, Cytotoxic T cells, Patient, plasma, Follow-up, cell death, epithelial, tissue repair, Evidence, Concentration, Injury, dysfunction, Activation, healthy control, healthy individuals, individual, hospital discharge, lung abnormalities, respiratory symptom, acute COVID-19, abnormality, proteomes, widespread, greater, indicated, elevated, cause, subset, Increased, resolved, patients hospitalized, post-COVID-19 patient, 【제목키워드】 airway, Respiratory disease, Immune cell, Regulation, individual, reveal,