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Sandi JD, Levy JI, Tapela K, Zeller M, Yeboah JA, Saka DF, Grant DS, Awandare GA, Quashie PK, Andersen KG, Paemka L. Upper Airway Epithelial Tissue Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Immune Signatures Associated with COVID-19 Severity in Ghanaians. J Immunol Res 2024; 2024:6668017. [PMID: 38375062 PMCID: PMC10876312 DOI: 10.1155/2024/6668017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Revised: 11/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/21/2024] Open
Abstract
The immunological signatures driving the severity of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) in Ghanaians remain poorly understood. We performed bulk transcriptome sequencing of nasopharyngeal samples from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected Ghanaians with mild and severe COVID-19, as well as healthy controls to characterize immune signatures at the primary SARS-CoV-2 infection site and identify drivers of disease severity. Generally, a heightened antiviral response was observed in SARS-CoV-2-infected Ghanaians compared with uninfected controls. COVID-19 severity was associated with immune suppression, overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines, including CRNN, IL1A, S100A7, and IL23A, and activation of pathways involved in keratinocyte proliferation. SAMD9L was among the differentially regulated interferon-stimulated genes in our mild and severe disease cohorts, suggesting that it may play a critical role in SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis. By comparing our data with a publicly available dataset from a non-African (Indians) (GSE166530), an elevated expression of antiviral response-related genes was noted in COVID-19-infected Ghanaians. Overall, the study describes immune signatures driving COVID-19 severity in Ghanaians and identifies immune drivers that could serve as potential prognostic markers for future outbreaks or pandemics. It further provides important preliminary evidence suggesting differences in antiviral response at the upper respiratory interface in sub-Saharan Africans (Ghanaians) and non-Africans, which could be contributing to the differences in disease outcomes. Further studies using larger datasets from different populations will expand on these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Demby Sandi
- West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP), College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
- Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology (BCMB), School of Biological Sciences, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
- Faculty of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone
- Kenema Government Hospital, Kenema, Sierra Leone
| | - Joshua I. Levy
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, San Diego, California 92037, USA
| | - Kesego Tapela
- West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP), College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
- Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology (BCMB), School of Biological Sciences, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
| | - Mark Zeller
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, San Diego, California 92037, USA
| | - Joshua Afari Yeboah
- Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology (BCMB), School of Biological Sciences, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
| | - Daniel Frimpong Saka
- Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology (BCMB), School of Biological Sciences, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
| | - Donald S. Grant
- Faculty of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone
- Kenema Government Hospital, Kenema, Sierra Leone
| | - Gordon A. Awandare
- West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP), College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
- Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology (BCMB), School of Biological Sciences, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
| | - Peter K. Quashie
- West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP), College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
- Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology (BCMB), School of Biological Sciences, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
| | - Kristian G. Andersen
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, San Diego, California 92037, USA
| | - Lily Paemka
- West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP), College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
- Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology (BCMB), School of Biological Sciences, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
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