scholarly journals Leptin Deficiency, Caused by Malnutrition, Makes You Susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 Infection but Could Offer Protection from Severe COVID-19

mSphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dewald Schoeman ◽  
Burtram C. Fielding
Keyword(s):  
T Cell Activation ◽  
Cell Activation ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Severe Disease ◽  
Severe Malnutrition ◽  
Know How ◽  
Leptin Deficiency ◽  
Cellular Immune System ◽  
Cellular Immune ◽  
Available Information

ABSTRACT In much of the developing world, severe malnutrition is the most prevalent cause of immunodeficiency and affects up to 50% of the population in some impoverished communities. As yet, we do not know how severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) will behave in populations with immunodeficiency caused by malnourishment. Interestingly, researchers are now speculating that, in some instances, a defective cellular immune system could paradoxically be a protective factor against severe disease in certain patients contracting SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. This could be linked to the absence of T-cell activation. Based on available information presented here, it is plausible that the hyperimmune response, and subsequent cytokine storm often associated with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), could be “counteracted” by the defective immune response seen in individuals with malnutrition-induced leptin deficiency. In this paper, we proposed a theory that although those with malnutrition-linked leptin deficiency are at risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, they are at lower risk of developing severe COVID-19.

scholarly journals Methotrexate Hampers Immunogenicity to BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Disease

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca H Haberman ◽  
Ramin Herati ◽  
David Simon ◽  
Marie Samanovic ◽  
Rebecca B. Blank ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
T Cell Activation ◽  
Cellular Immune Response ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Cell Activation ◽  
Inflammatory Diseases ◽  
Antibody Responses ◽  
Igg Antibody ◽  
Immune Mediated ◽  
Cellular Immune

Objective: To investigate the humoral and cellular immune response to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) on immunomodulatory treatment. Methods: Established patients at NYU Langone Health with IMID (n=51) receiving the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccination were assessed at baseline and after second immunization. Healthy subjects served as controls (n=26). IgG antibody responses to the spike protein were analyzed for humoral response. Cellular immune response to SARS-CoV-2 was further analyzed using high-parameter spectral flow cytometry. A second independent, validation cohort of controls (n=182) and patients with IMID (n=31) from Erlangen, Germany were also analyzed for humoral immune response. Results: Although healthy subjects (n=208) and IMID patients on biologic treatments (mostly on TNF blockers, n=37) demonstrate robust antibody responses (over 90%), those patients with IMID on background methotrexate (n=45) achieve an adequate response in only 62.2% of cases. Similarly, IMID patients do not demonstrate an increase in CD8+ T cell activation after vaccination. Conclusions: In two independent cohorts of IMID patients, methotrexate, a widely used immunomodulator for the treatment of several IMIDs, adversely affected humoral and cellular immune response to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. Although precise cut offs for immunogenicity that correlate with vaccine efficacy are yet to be established, our findings suggest that different strategies may need to be explored in patients with IMID taking methotrexate to increase the chances of immunization efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 as has been demonstrated for augmenting immunogenicity to other viral vaccines.

scholarly journals Highly functional virus-specific cellular immune response in asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Le Bert ◽  
Hannah E Clapham ◽  
Anthony T Tan ◽  
Wan Ni Chia ◽  
Christine YL Tham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
T Cells ◽  
Inflammatory Cytokines ◽  
T Cell Activation ◽  
Cellular Immune Response ◽  
Cell Activation ◽  
Tnf Α ◽  
Specific Cellular Immune Response ◽  
Ifn Γ ◽  
Cellular Immune

AbstractThe efficacy of virus-specific T cells in clearing pathogens involves a fine balance between their antiviral and inflammatory features. SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells in individuals who clear SARS-CoV-2 infection without symptoms or disease could reveal non-pathological yet protective characteristics. We therefore compared the quantity and function of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells in a cohort of asymptomatic individuals (n=85) with that of symptomatic COVID-19 patients (n=76), at different time points after antibody seroconversion. We quantified T cells reactive to structural proteins (M, NP and Spike) using ELISpot assays, and measured the magnitude of cytokine secretion (IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-10) in whole blood following T cell activation with SARS-CoV-2 peptide pools as a functional readout. Frequencies of T cells specific for the different SARS-CoV-2 proteins in the early phases of recovery were similar between asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals. However, we detected an increased IFN-γ and IL-2 production in asymptomatic compared to symptomatic individuals after activation of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells in blood. This was associated with a proportional secretion of IL-10 and pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α and IL-1β) only in asymptomatic infection, while a disproportionate secretion of inflammatory cytokines was triggered by SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell activation in symptomatic individuals. Thus, asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals are not characterized by a weak antiviral immunity; on the contrary, they mount a robust and highly functional virus-specific cellular immune response. Their ability to induce a proportionate production of IL-10 might help to reduce inflammatory events during viral clearance.

scholarly journals Sustained Cellular Immune Dysregulation in Individuals Recovering from SARS-CoV-2 Infection

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob K Files ◽  
Sushma Boppana ◽  
Mildred D Perez ◽  
Sanghita Sarkar ◽  
Kelsey E Lowman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cell ◽  
T Cell Activation ◽  
Cell Activation ◽  
Immune Cell ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Clinical Manifestations ◽  
Immune Dysregulation ◽  
Hospitalized Patients ◽  
Activation Markers ◽  
Cellular Immune

SARS-CoV-2 causes a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations and significant mortality. Studies investigating underlying immune characteristics are needed to understand disease pathogenesis and inform vaccine design. In this study, we examined immune cell subsets in hospitalized and non-hospitalized individuals. In hospitalized patients, many adaptive and innate immune cells were decreased in frequency compared to healthy and convalescent individuals, with the exception of B lymphocytes which increased. Our findings show increased frequencies of T-cell activation markers (CD69, Ox40, HLA-DR and CD154) in hospitalized patients, with other T-cell activation/exhaustion markers (CD25, PD-L1 and TIGIT) remaining elevated in hospitalized and non-hospitalized individuals. B cells had a similar pattern of activation/exhaustion, with increased frequency of CD69 and CD95 during hospitalization, followed by an increase in PD1 frequencies in non-hospitalized individuals. Interestingly, many of these changes were found to increase over time in non-hospitalized longitudinal samples, suggesting a prolonged period of immune dysregulation following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Changes in T-cell activation/exhaustion in non-hospitalized patients were found to positively correlate with age. Severely infected individuals had increased expression of activation and exhaustion markers. These data suggest a prolonged period of immune dysregulation following SARS-CoV-2 infection highlighting the need for additional studies investigating immune dysregulation in convalescent individuals.

Four Different Markers for Activated Cell Mediated Immunity Compared with the Clinical Stages of HIV Infection

Pteridines ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-57
Author(s):  
Arnaldo Caruso ◽  
Maria de Francesco ◽  
Rosanna Gonzales ◽  
Patrizia Pollara ◽  
Lorenzo Zanoni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Infection ◽  
T Cell Activation ◽  
Cell Activation ◽  
Stage Iv ◽  
Cell Mediated Immunity ◽  
Clinical Stages ◽  
Soluble Cd8 ◽  
Cellular Immune ◽  
Stimulation Of

Summary Activated cell-mediated immunity, as defined by four markers, has been studied in HIV-infected patients, and compared with the clinical stages of HIV infection. All the values obtained with such markers (interferon-y expressed on lymphocytes, soluble CD8, soluble IL-2 receptor, and serum neopterin) were observed to increase with the progressive stages of HIV infection, with the highest figures occurring in stage IV-C patients. Since the replication of HIV depend strictly on the stimulation of infected cells, T-cell activation in vitro might contribute to a further spread of HIV-1 in infected subjects. Thus permanent or multiple stimulation of the cellular immune system could be an important cofactor in the progression of this syndrome.

scholarly journals SARS-CoV-2 genome-wide mapping of CD8 T cell recognition reveals strong immunodominance and substantial CD8 T cell activation in COVID-19 patients

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunil Kumar Saini ◽  
Ditte Stampe Hersby ◽  
Tripti Tamhane ◽  
Helle Rus Povlsen ◽  
Susana Patricia Amaya Hernandez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cell ◽  
T Cell Activation ◽  
Cell Activation ◽  
Severe Disease ◽  
Protein A ◽  
Cd8 T Cell ◽  
T Cell Immunity ◽  
T Cell Epitopes ◽  
High Exposure ◽  
Cell Immunity

SummaryTo understand the CD8+ T cell immunity related to viral protection and disease severity in COVID-19, we evaluated the complete SARS-CoV-2 genome (3141 MHC-I binding peptides) to identify immunogenic T cell epitopes, and determine the level of CD8+ T cell involvement using DNA-barcoded peptide-major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) multimers. COVID-19 patients showed strong T cell responses, with up to 25% of all CD8+ lymphocytes specific to SARS-CoV-2-derived immunodominant epitopes, derived from ORF1 (open reading frame 1), ORF3, and Nucleocapsid (N) protein. A strong signature of T cell activation was observed in COVID-19 patients, while no T cell activation was seen in the ‘non-exposed’ and ‘high exposure risk’ healthy donors. Interestingly, patients with severe disease displayed the largest T cell populations with a strong activation profile. These results will have important implications for understanding the T cell immunity to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and how T cell immunity might influence disease development.

scholarly journals Interdependencies between cellular and humoral immune responses in heterologous and homologous SARS-CoV-2 vaccination

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moritz M Hollstein ◽  
Lennart Muensterkoetter ◽  
Michael P Schoen ◽  
Armin Bergmann ◽  
Thea M Husar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cell ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
T Cell Activation ◽  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Cell Activation ◽  
Booster Vaccination ◽  
Antibody Avidity ◽  
Humoral Immune ◽  
Cellular Immune Responses ◽  
Cellular Immune

Background: Homologous and heterologous SARS-CoV-2-vaccinations yield different spike protein-directed humoral and cellular immune responses. However, their interdependencies remain elusive. Methods: COV-ADAPT is a prospective, observational cohort study of 417 healthcare workers who received homologous vaccination with Astra (ChAdOx1-S; AstraZeneca) or BNT (BNT162b2; Biontech/Pfizer) or heterologous vaccination with Astra/BNT. We assessed the humoral (anti-spike-RBD-IgG, neutralizing antibodies, antibody avidity) and cellular (spike-induced T cell interferon-y release) immune response in blood samples up to 2 weeks before (T1) and 2 to 12 weeks following secondary immunization (T2). Findings: Initial vaccination with Astra resulted in lower anti-spike-RBD-IgG responses compared to BNT (70+/-114 vs. 226+/-279 BAU/ml, p<0.01) at T1, whereas T cell activation did not differ significantly. Booster vaccination with BNT proved superior to Astra at T2 (anti-spike-RBD-IgG: Astra/BNT 2387+/-1627 and BNT/BNT 3202+/-2184 vs. Astra/Astra 413+/-461 BAU/ml, both p<0.001; spike-induced T cell interferon-y; release: Astra/BNT 5069+/-6733 and BNT/BNT 4880+/-7570 vs. Astra/Astra 1152+/-2243 mIU/ml, both p<0.001). No significant differences were detected between BNT-boostered groups at T2. For Astra, we observed no booster effect on T cell activation. We found associations between anti-spike-RBD-IgG levels (Astra/BNT and BNT/BNT) and T cell responses (Astra/Astra and Astra/BNT) from T1 to T2. There were also links between levels of anti-spike-RBD-IgG and T cell at both time points (all groups combined). All regimes yielded neutralizing antibodies and increased antibody avidity at T2. Interpretation: Interdependencies between humoral and cellular immune responses differ between common SARS-CoV-2 vaccination regimes. T cell activation is unlikely to compensate for poor humoral responses. Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), ER723/3-1

scholarly journals ZAP-70 Regulates Autoimmune Arthritis via Alterations in T Cell Activation and Apoptosis

Cells ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Réka Kugyelka ◽  
Lilla Prenek ◽  
Katalin Olasz ◽  
Zoltán Kohl ◽  
Bálint Botz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
T Cell Activation ◽  
Cell Activation ◽  
Severe Disease ◽  
Negative Regulator ◽  
Human Rheumatoid Arthritis ◽  
Autoantibody Production

T cells play an essential role in the pathogenesis of both human rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its murine models. A key molecule in T cell activation is ZAP-70, therefore we aimed to investigate the effects of partial ZAP-70 deficiency on the pathogenesis of recombinant human G1(rhG1)-induced arthritis (GIA), a well-established mouse model of RA. Arthritis was induced in BALB/c and ZAP-70+/− heterozygous mice. Disease progression was monitored using a scoring system and in vivo imaging, antigen-specific proliferation, cytokine and autoantibody production was measured and T cell apoptotic pathways were analyzed. ZAP-70+/− mice developed a less severe arthritis, as shown by both clinical picture and in vitro parameters (decreased T cell proliferation, cytokine and autoantibody production). The amount of cleaved Caspase-3 increased in arthritic ZAP-70+/− T cells, with no significant changes in cleaved Caspase-8 and -9 levels; although expression of Bim, Bcl-2 and Cytochrome C showed alterations. Tyrosine phosphorylation was less pronounced in arthritic ZAP-70+/− T cells and the amount of Cbl-b—a negative regulator of T cell activation—decreased as well. We hypothesize that the less severe disease seen in the partial absence of ZAP-70 might be caused by the decreased T cell activation accompanied by increased apoptosis.

scholarly journals SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern partially escape humoral but not T-cell responses in COVID-19 convalescent donors and vaccinees

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (59) ◽  
pp. eabj1750
Author(s):  
Daryl Geers ◽  
Marc C. Shamier ◽  
Susanne Bogers ◽  
Gerco den Hartog ◽  
Lennert Gommers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
T Cell Activation ◽  
Cell Activation ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
S Protein ◽  
Cellular Immune Responses ◽  
Functional Antibodies ◽  
Cellular Immune

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants harboring mutations in the spike (S) protein has raised concern about potential immune escape. Here, we studied humoral and cellular immune responses to wild type SARS-CoV-2 and the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants of concern in a cohort of 121 BNT162b2 mRNA-vaccinated health care workers (HCW). Twenty-three HCW recovered from mild COVID-19 disease and exhibited a recall response with high levels of SARS-CoV-2-specific functional antibodies and virus-specific T cells after a single vaccination. Specific immune responses were also detected in seronegative HCW after one vaccination, but a second dose was required to reach high levels of functional antibodies and cellular immune responses in all individuals. Vaccination-induced antibodies cross-neutralized the variants B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, but the neutralizing capacity and Fc-mediated functionality against B.1.351 was consistently 2- to 4-fold lower than to the homologous virus. In addition, peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stimulated with peptide pools spanning the mutated S regions of B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 to detect cross-reactivity of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells with variants. Importantly, we observed no differences in CD4+ T-cell activation in response to variant antigens, indicating that the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 S proteins do not escape T-cell-mediated immunity elicited by the wild type S protein. In conclusion, this study shows that some variants can partially escape humoral immunity induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection or BNT162b2 vaccination, but S-specific CD4+ T-cell activation is not affected by the mutations in the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants.

scholarly journals Large scale cytokine profiling uncovers elevated IL12-p70 and IL-17A in severe pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Ju Ming Wong ◽  
Herng Lee Tan ◽  
Jieliang Zhou ◽  
Jan Hau Lee ◽  
Jing Yao Leong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome ◽  
Respiratory Distress Syndrome ◽  
Respiratory Distress ◽  
T Cell Activation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cell Activation ◽  
Distress Syndrome ◽  
Severe Disease ◽  
Oxygenation Index ◽  
Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase

AbstractThe specific cytokines that regulate pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS) pathophysiology remains unclear. Here, we evaluated the respiratory cytokine profile in PARDS to identify the molecular signatures associated with severe disease. A multiplex suspension immunoassay was used to profile 45 cytokines, chemokines and growth factors. Cytokine concentrations were compared between severe and non-severe PARDS, and correlated with oxygenation index (OI). Partial least squares regression modelling and regression coefficient plots were used to identify a composite of key mediators that differentially segregated severe from non-severe disease. The mean (standard deviation) age and OI of this cohort was 5.2 (4.9) years and 17.8 (11.3), respectively. Early PARDS patients with severe disease exhibited a cytokine signature that was up-regulated for IL-12p70, IL-17A, MCP-1, IL-4, IL-1β, IL-6, MIP-1β, SCF, EGF and HGF. In particular, pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, MCP-1, IP-10, IL-17A, IL-12p70) positively correlated with OI early in the disease. Whereas late PARDS was characterized by a differential lung cytokine signature consisting of both up-regulated (IL-8, IL-12p70, VEGF-D, IL-4, GM-CSF) and down-regulated (IL-1β, EGF, Eotaxin, IL-1RA, and PDGF-BB) profiles segregating non-severe and severe groups. This cytokine signature was associated with increased transcription, T cell activation and proliferation as well as activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway that underpin PARDS severity.

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