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Michael BD, Dunai C, Needham EJ, Tharmaratnam K, Williams R, Huang Y, Boardman SA, Clark JJ, Sharma P, Subramaniam K, Wood GK, Collie C, Digby R, Ren A, Norton E, Leibowitz M, Ebrahimi S, Fower A, Fox H, Tato E, Ellul MA, Sunderland G, Held M, Hetherington C, Egbe FN, Palmos A, Stirrups K, Grundmann A, Chiollaz AC, Sanchez JC, Stewart JP, Griffiths M, Solomon T, Breen G, Coles AJ, Kingston N, Bradley JR, Chinnery PF, Cavanagh J, Irani SR, Vincent A, Baillie JK, Openshaw PJ, Semple MG, Taams LS, Menon DK. Para-infectious brain injury in COVID-19 persists at follow-up despite attenuated cytokine and autoantibody responses. Nat Commun 2023; 14:8487. [PMID: 38135686 PMCID: PMC10746705 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42320-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
To understand neurological complications of COVID-19 better both acutely and for recovery, we measured markers of brain injury, inflammatory mediators, and autoantibodies in 203 hospitalised participants; 111 with acute sera (1-11 days post-admission) and 92 convalescent sera (56 with COVID-19-associated neurological diagnoses). Here we show that compared to 60 uninfected controls, tTau, GFAP, NfL, and UCH-L1 are increased with COVID-19 infection at acute timepoints and NfL and GFAP are significantly higher in participants with neurological complications. Inflammatory mediators (IL-6, IL-12p40, HGF, M-CSF, CCL2, and IL-1RA) are associated with both altered consciousness and markers of brain injury. Autoantibodies are more common in COVID-19 than controls and some (including against MYL7, UCH-L1, and GRIN3B) are more frequent with altered consciousness. Additionally, convalescent participants with neurological complications show elevated GFAP and NfL, unrelated to attenuated systemic inflammatory mediators and to autoantibody responses. Overall, neurological complications of COVID-19 are associated with evidence of neuroglial injury in both acute and late disease and these correlate with dysregulated innate and adaptive immune responses acutely.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benedict D Michael
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK.
- NIHR Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections at University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK.
- The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, L9 7BB, UK.
| | - Cordelia Dunai
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
- NIHR Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections at University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Edward J Needham
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
- Division of Anaesthesia, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Kukatharmini Tharmaratnam
- Health Data Science, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 3GF, UK
| | - Robyn Williams
- Oxford Autoimmune Neurology Group, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
- Departments of Neurology and Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | - Yun Huang
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Sarah A Boardman
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Jordan J Clark
- University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
- Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, NY, 10029, USA
- Center for Vaccine Research and Pandemic Preparedness (C-VARPP), Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Parul Sharma
- Infection Biology & Microbiomes, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L3 5RF, UK
| | - Krishanthi Subramaniam
- Infection Biology & Microbiomes, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L3 5RF, UK
| | - Greta K Wood
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Ceryce Collie
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Richard Digby
- Division of Anaesthesia, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Alexander Ren
- Division of Anaesthesia, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Emma Norton
- Division of Anaesthesia, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Maya Leibowitz
- Division of Anaesthesia, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Soraya Ebrahimi
- Division of Anaesthesia, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Andrew Fower
- Oxford Autoimmune Neurology Group, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Hannah Fox
- Oxford Autoimmune Neurology Group, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Esteban Tato
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK
- NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, King's College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK
| | - Mark A Ellul
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
- The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, L9 7BB, UK
| | - Geraint Sunderland
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Marie Held
- Centre for Cell Imaging, Liverpool Shared Research Facilities, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZB, UK
| | - Claire Hetherington
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Franklyn N Egbe
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Alish Palmos
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK
- NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, King's College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK
| | - Kathy Stirrups
- NIHR BioResource, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
- Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Alexander Grundmann
- Clinical Neurosciences, Clinical and Experimental Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BF, UK
- Department of Neurology, Wessex Neurological Centre, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, SO16 6YD, UK
| | - Anne-Cecile Chiollaz
- Département de médecine interne des spécialités (DEMED), University of Geneva, Geneva, CH-1211, Switzerland
| | - Jean-Charles Sanchez
- Département de médecine interne des spécialités (DEMED), University of Geneva, Geneva, CH-1211, Switzerland
| | - James P Stewart
- Infection Biology & Microbiomes, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L3 5RF, UK
| | - Michael Griffiths
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
| | - Tom Solomon
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
- NIHR Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections at University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
- The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, L9 7BB, UK
- The Pandemic Institute, Liverpool, L7 3FA, UK
| | - Gerome Breen
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK
- NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, King's College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK
| | - Alasdair J Coles
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Nathalie Kingston
- NIHR BioResource, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
- University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - John R Bradley
- NIHR BioResource, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
- Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Patrick F Chinnery
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
- NIHR BioResource, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Jonathan Cavanagh
- Centre for Immunology, School of Infection & Immunity, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8TA, UK
| | - Sarosh R Irani
- Oxford Autoimmune Neurology Group, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
- Departments of Neurology and Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | - Angela Vincent
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
| | - J Kenneth Baillie
- Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH25 9RG, UK
- Intensive Care Unit, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH10 5HF, UK
| | - Peter J Openshaw
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2BX, UK
- Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, W2 1NY, UK
| | - Malcolm G Semple
- Clinical Infection, Microbiology, and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
- NIHR Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections at University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7BE, UK
- Respiratory Unit, Alder Hey Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, L14 5AB, UK
| | - Leonie S Taams
- Centre for Inflammation Biology and Cancer Immunology, King's College London, London, SE1 9RT, UK
| | - David K Menon
- Division of Anaesthesia, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
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Spatola M, Nziza N, Jung W, Deng Y, Yuan D, Dinoto A, Bozzetti S, Chiodega V, Ferrari S, Lauffenburger DA, Mariotto S, Alter G. Neurologic sequelae of COVID-19 are determined by immunologic imprinting from previous coronaviruses. Brain 2023; 146:4292-4305. [PMID: 37161609 PMCID: PMC11004923 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2022] [Revised: 03/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), remains a global public health emergency. Although SARS-CoV-2 is primarily a respiratory pathogen, extra-respiratory organs, including the CNS, can also be affected. Neurologic symptoms have been observed not only during acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, but also at distance from respiratory disease, also known as long-COVID or neurological post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (neuroPASC). The pathogenesis of neuroPASC is not well understood, but hypotheses include SARS-CoV-2-induced immune dysfunctions, hormonal dysregulations and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 reservoirs. In this prospective cohort study, we used a high throughput systems serology approach to dissect the humoral response to SARS-CoV-2 (and other common coronaviruses: 229E, HKU1, NL63 and OC43) in the serum and CSF from 112 infected individuals who developed (n = 18) or did not develop (n = 94) neuroPASC. Unique SARS-CoV-2 humoral profiles were observed in the CSF of neuroPASC compared with serum responses. All antibody isotypes (IgG, IgM, IgA) and subclasses (IgA1-2, IgG1-4) were detected in serum, whereas CSF was characterized by focused IgG1 (and absence of IgM). These data argue in favour of compartmentalized brain-specific responses against SARS-CoV-2 through selective transfer of antibodies from the serum to the CSF across the blood-brain barrier, rather than intrathecal synthesis, where more diversity in antibody classes/subclasses would be expected. Compared to individuals who did not develop post-acute complications following infection, individuals with neuroPASC had similar demographic features (median age 65 versus 66.5 years, respectively, P = 0.55; females 33% versus 44%, P = 0.52) but exhibited attenuated systemic antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2, characterized by decreased capacity to activate antibody-dependent complement deposition (ADCD), NK cell activation (ADNKA) and to bind Fcγ receptors. However, surprisingly, neuroPASC individuals showed significantly expanded antibody responses to other common coronaviruses, including 229E, HKU1, NL63 and OC43. This biased humoral activation across coronaviruses was particularly enriched in neuroPASC individuals with poor outcome, suggesting an 'original antigenic sin' (or immunologic imprinting), where pre-existing immune responses against related viruses shape the response to the current infection, as a key prognostic marker of neuroPASC disease. Overall, these findings point to a pathogenic role for compromised anti-SARS-CoV-2 responses in the CSF, likely resulting in incomplete virus clearance from the brain and persistent neuroinflammation, in the development of post-acute neurologic complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marianna Spatola
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Nadège Nziza
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Wonyeong Jung
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Yixiang Deng
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Dansu Yuan
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Alessandro Dinoto
- Neurology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, 37131 Verona, Italy
| | - Silvia Bozzetti
- Neurology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, 37131 Verona, Italy
| | - Vanessa Chiodega
- Neurology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, 37131 Verona, Italy
- Department of Neurology/Stroke Unit, San Maurizio Hospital, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
| | - Sergio Ferrari
- Neurology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, 37131 Verona, Italy
| | | | - Sara Mariotto
- Neurology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, 37131 Verona, Italy
| | - Galit Alter
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
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Tsilingiris D, Vallianou NG, Karampela I, Christodoulatos GS, Papavasileiou G, Petropoulou D, Magkos F, Dalamaga M. Laboratory Findings and Biomarkers in Long COVID: What Do We Know So Far? Insights into Epidemiology, Pathogenesis, Therapeutic Perspectives and Challenges. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:10458. [PMID: 37445634 PMCID: PMC10341908 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241310458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2023] [Revised: 06/15/2023] [Accepted: 06/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Long COVID (LC) encompasses a constellation of long-term symptoms experienced by at least 10% of people after the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection, and so far it has affected about 65 million people. The etiology of LC remains unclear; however, many pathophysiological pathways may be involved, including viral persistence; a chronic, low-grade inflammatory response; immune dysregulation and a defective immune response; the reactivation of latent viruses; autoimmunity; persistent endothelial dysfunction and coagulopathy; gut dysbiosis; hormonal and metabolic dysregulation; mitochondrial dysfunction; and autonomic nervous system dysfunction. There are no specific tests for the diagnosis of LC, and clinical features including laboratory findings and biomarkers may not specifically relate to LC. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to develop and validate biomarkers that can be employed for the prediction, diagnosis and prognosis of LC and its therapeutic response, although this effort may be hampered by challenges pertaining to the non-specific nature of the majority of clinical manifestations in the LC spectrum, small sample sizes of relevant studies and other methodological issues. Promising candidate biomarkers that are found in some patients are markers of systemic inflammation, including acute phase proteins, cytokines and chemokines; biomarkers reflecting SARS-CoV-2 persistence, the reactivation of herpesviruses and immune dysregulation; biomarkers of endotheliopathy, coagulation and fibrinolysis; microbiota alterations; diverse proteins and metabolites; hormonal and metabolic biomarkers; and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers. At present, there are only two reviews summarizing relevant biomarkers; however, they do not cover the entire umbrella of current biomarkers, their link to etiopathogenetic mechanisms or the diagnostic work-up in a comprehensive manner. Herein, we aim to appraise and synopsize the available evidence on the typical laboratory manifestations and candidate biomarkers of LC, their classification based on pathogenetic mechanisms and the main LC symptomatology in the frame of the epidemiological and clinical aspects of the syndrome and furthermore assess limitations and challenges as well as potential implications in candidate therapeutic interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimitrios Tsilingiris
- First Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Democritus University of Thrace, Dragana, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece;
| | - Natalia G. Vallianou
- Department of Internal Medicine, Evangelismos General Hospital, 45-47 Ipsilantou Street, 10676 Athens, Greece;
| | - Irene Karampela
- 2nd Department of Critical Care, Medical School, University of Athens, Attikon General University Hospital, 1 Rimini Street, 12462 Athens, Greece;
| | | | - Georgios Papavasileiou
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 75 Mikras Asias Street, 11527 Athens, Greece; (G.P.); (D.P.)
| | - Dimitra Petropoulou
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 75 Mikras Asias Street, 11527 Athens, Greece; (G.P.); (D.P.)
| | - Faidon Magkos
- Department of Nutrition, Exercise, and Sports, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Frederiksberg, Denmark;
| | - Maria Dalamaga
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 75 Mikras Asias Street, 11527 Athens, Greece; (G.P.); (D.P.)
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