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Giamarellos-Bourboulis EJ, Netea MG, Rovina N, Akinosoglou K, Antoniadou A, Antonakos N, Damoraki G, Gkavogianni T, Adami ME, Katsaounou P, Ntaganou M, Kyriakopoulou M, Dimopoulos G, Koutsodimitropoulos I, Velissaris D, Koufargyris P, Karageorgos A, Katrini K, Lekakis V, Lupse M, Kotsaki A, Renieris G, Theodoulou D, Panou V, Koukaki E, Koulouris N, Gogos C, Koutsoukou A. Complex Immune Dysregulation in COVID-19 Patients with Severe Respiratory Failure. Cell Host Microbe 2020; 27:992-1000.e3. [PMID: 32320677 PMCID: PMC7172841 DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2020.04.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1435] [Impact Index Per Article: 358.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2020] [Revised: 04/03/2020] [Accepted: 04/09/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Proper management of COVID-19 mandates better understanding of disease pathogenesis. The sudden clinical deterioration 7-8 days after initial symptom onset suggests that severe respiratory failure (SRF) in COVID-19 is driven by a unique pattern of immune dysfunction. We studied immune responses of 54 COVID-19 patients, 28 of whom had SRF. All patients with SRF displayed either macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) or very low human leukocyte antigen D related (HLA-DR) expression accompanied by profound depletion of CD4 lymphocytes, CD19 lymphocytes, and natural killer (NK) cells. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) production by circulating monocytes was sustained, a pattern distinct from bacterial sepsis or influenza. SARS-CoV-2 patient plasma inhibited HLA-DR expression, and this was partially restored by the IL-6 blocker Tocilizumab; off-label Tocilizumab treatment of patients was accompanied by increase in circulating lymphocytes. Thus, the unique pattern of immune dysregulation in severe COVID-19 is characterized by IL-6-mediated low HLA-DR expression and lymphopenia, associated with sustained cytokine production and hyper-inflammation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mihai G Netea
- Immunology and Metabolism, Life & Medical Sciences Institute, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany; Department of Internal Medicine and Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University, 6500 Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Nikoletta Rovina
- 1(st) Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Intensive Care Unit, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 115 27 Athens, Greece
| | - Karolina Akinosoglou
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Patras, Medical School, 265 04 Rion, Greece
| | - Anastasia Antoniadou
- 4(th) Department of Internal Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 124 62 Athens, Greece
| | - Nikolaos Antonakos
- 4(th) Department of Internal Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 124 62 Athens, Greece
| | - Georgia Damoraki
- 4(th) Department of Internal Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 124 62 Athens, Greece
| | - Theologia Gkavogianni
- 4(th) Department of Internal Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 124 62 Athens, Greece
| | - Maria-Evangelia Adami
- 4(th) Department of Internal Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 124 62 Athens, Greece
| | - Paraskevi Katsaounou
- 1(st) Department of Critical Care Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 106 76 Athens, Medical School, Greece
| | - Maria Ntaganou
- 1(st) Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Intensive Care Unit, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 115 27 Athens, Greece
| | - Magdalini Kyriakopoulou
- 1(st) Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Intensive Care Unit, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 115 27 Athens, Greece
| | - George Dimopoulos
- 2(nd) Department of Critical Care Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 124 62 Athens, Greece
| | | | - Dimitrios Velissaris
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Patras, Medical School, 265 04 Rion, Greece
| | - Panagiotis Koufargyris
- 4(th) Department of Internal Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 124 62 Athens, Greece
| | - Athanassios Karageorgos
- 4(th) Department of Internal Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 124 62 Athens, Greece
| | - Konstantina Katrini
- 4(th) Department of Internal Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 124 62 Athens, Greece
| | - Vasileios Lekakis
- 4(th) Department of Internal Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 124 62 Athens, Greece
| | - Mihaela Lupse
- Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Antigone Kotsaki
- 4(th) Department of Internal Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 124 62 Athens, Greece
| | - George Renieris
- 4(th) Department of Internal Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 124 62 Athens, Greece
| | - Danai Theodoulou
- 1(st) Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Intensive Care Unit, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 115 27 Athens, Greece
| | - Vassiliki Panou
- 1(st) Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Intensive Care Unit, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 115 27 Athens, Greece
| | - Evangelia Koukaki
- 1(st) Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Intensive Care Unit, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 115 27 Athens, Greece
| | - Nikolaos Koulouris
- 1(st) Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Intensive Care Unit, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 115 27 Athens, Greece
| | - Charalambos Gogos
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Patras, Medical School, 265 04 Rion, Greece
| | - Antonia Koutsoukou
- 1(st) Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Intensive Care Unit, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, 115 27 Athens, Greece
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