scholarly journals Neutralizing autoantibodies to type I IFNs in >10% of patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia hospitalized in Madrid, Spain

Author(s):  
Jesús Troya García ◽  
Paul Bastard ◽  
Laura Planas-Serra ◽  
Pablo Ryan ◽  
Montse Ruíz ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: In a recent study, autoantibodies neutralizing type I interferons (IFNs) were present in at least 10% of cases of critical COVID-19 pneumonia. These autoantibodies neutralized most type I IFNs but rarely IFN-beta.Objectives: We aimed to define the prevalence of autoantibodies neutralizing type I IFN in a cohort of patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia treated with IFN-beta-1b during hospitalization and to analyze their impact on various clinical variables and outcomes.Methods: We analyzed stored serum/plasma samples and clinical data of COVID-19 patients treated subcutaneously with IFN-beta-1b from March to May 2020, at the Infanta Leonor University Hospital in Madrid, Spain. Results: The cohort comprised 47 COVID-19 patients with severe pneumonia, 16 of whom (34%) had a critical progression requiring ICU admission. The median age was 71 years, with 28 men (58.6%). Type I IFN-alpha- and omega-neutralizing autoantibodies were found in 5 of 47 patients with severe pneumonia or critical disease (10.6%). The autoantibodies did not neutralize IFN-beta. No demographic, comorbidity, or clinical differences were seen between individuals with or without autoantibodies. We found a significant correlation between the presence of neutralizing autoantibodies and higher C-reactive protein levels (p=5.10e-03) and lower lymphocyte counts (p=1.80e-02). Survival analysis suggested that neutralizing autoantibodies may increase the risk of death (4/5, 80% vs 12/42, 28.5%).Conclusion: Autoantibodies neutralizing type I IFN underlie severe/critical COVID-19 stages in at least 10% of cases, correlate with increased C-RP and lower lymphocyte counts, and confer a trend towards increased risk of death. Subcutaneous IFN-beta treatment of hospitalized patients did not seem to improve clinical outcome. Studies of earlier, ambulatory IFN-beta treatment are warranted.

Blood ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 99 (9) ◽  
pp. 3263-3271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Montoya ◽  
Giovanna Schiavoni ◽  
Fabrizio Mattei ◽  
Ion Gresser ◽  
Filippo Belardelli ◽  
...  

Abstract Resting dendritic cells (DCs) are resident in most tissues and can be activated by environmental stimuli to mature into potent antigen-presenting cells. One important stimulus for DC activation is infection; DCs can be triggered through receptors that recognize microbial components directly or by contact with infection-induced cytokines. We show here that murine DCs undergo phenotypic maturation upon exposure to type I interferons (type I IFNs) in vivo or in vitro. Moreover, DCs either derived from bone marrow cells in vitro or isolated from the spleens of normal animals express IFN-α and IFN-β, suggesting that type I IFNs can act in an autocrine manner to activate DCs. Consistent with this idea, the ability to respond to type I IFN was required for the generation of fully activated DCs from bone marrow precursors, as DCs derived from the bone marrow of mice lacking a functional receptor for type I IFN had reduced expression of costimulatory and adhesion molecules and a diminished ability to stimulate naive T-cell proliferation compared with DCs derived from control bone marrow. Furthermore, the addition of neutralizing anti–IFN-α/β antibody to purified splenic DCs in vitro partially blocked the “spontaneous” activation of these cells, inhibiting the up-regulation of costimulatory molecules, secretion of IFN-γ, and T-cell stimulatory activity. These results show that DCs both secrete and respond to type I IFN, identifying type I interferons as autocrine DC activators.


2011 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 2112-2119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Danielle C. Chessler ◽  
Kacey L. Caradonna ◽  
Akram Da'dara ◽  
Barbara A. Burleigh

ABSTRACTTrypanosoma cruzi, the protozoan parasite that causes human Chagas' disease, induces a type I interferon (IFN) (IFN-α/β) response during acute experimental infection in mice and in isolated primary cell types. To examine the potential impact of the type I IFN response in shaping outcomes in experimentalT. cruziinfection, groups of wild-type (WT) and type I IFN receptor-deficient (IFNAR−/−) 129sv/ev mice were infected with two differentT. cruzistrains under lethal and sublethal conditions and several parameters were measured during the acute stage of infection. The results demonstrate that type I IFNs are not required for early host protection againstT. cruzi. In contrast, under conditions of lethalT. cruzichallenge, WT mice succumbed to infection whereas IFNAR−/−mice were ultimately able to control parasite growth and survive.T. cruziclearance in and survival of IFNAR−/−mice were accompanied by higher levels of IFN-γ production by isolated splenocytes in response to parasite antigen. The suppression of IFN-γ in splenocytes from WT mice was independent of IL-10 levels. While the impact of type I IFNs on the production of IFN-γ and other cytokines/chemokines remains to be fully determined in the context ofT. cruziinfection, our data suggest that, under conditions of high parasite burden, type I IFNs negatively impact IFN-γ production, initiating a detrimental cycle that contributes to the ultimate failure to control infection. These findings are consistent with a growing theme in the microbial pathogenesis field in which type I IFNs can be detrimental to the host in a variety of nonviral pathogen infection models.


2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (9) ◽  
pp. 4538-4545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina B. López ◽  
Jacob S. Yount ◽  
Tamar Hermesh ◽  
Thomas M. Moran

ABSTRACT Adaptive immunity in response to virus infection involves the generation of Th1 cells, cytotoxic T cells, and antibodies. This type of immune response is crucial for the clearance of virus infection and for long-term protection against reinfection. Type I interferons (IFNs), the primary innate cytokines that control virus growth and spreading, can influence various aspects of adaptive immunity. The development of antiviral immunity depends on many viral and cellular factors, and the extent to which type I IFNs contribute to the generation of adaptive immunity in response to a viral infection is controversial. Using two strains (Cantell and 52) of the murine respiratory Sendai virus (SeV) with differential abilities to induce type I IFN production from infected cells, together with type I IFN receptor-deficient mice, we examined the role of type I IFNs in the generation of adaptive immunity. Our results show that type I IFNs facilitate virus clearance and enhance the migration and maturation of dendritic cells after SeV infection in vivo; however, soon after infection, mice clear the virus from their lungs and efficiently generate cytotoxic T cells independently of type I IFN signaling. Furthermore, animals that are unresponsive to type I IFN develop long-term anti-SeV immunity, including CD8+ T cells and antibodies. Significantly, this memory response is able to protect mice against challenge with a lethal dose of virus. In conclusion, our results show that primary and secondary anti-SeV adaptive immunities are developed normally in the absence of type I IFN responsiveness.


eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daisy X Ji ◽  
Kristen C Witt ◽  
Dmitri I Kotov ◽  
Shally R Margolis ◽  
Alexander Louie ◽  
...  

Type I interferons (IFNs) are essential for anti-viral immunity, but often impair protective immune responses during bacterial infections. An important question is how type I IFNs are strongly induced during viral infections, and yet are appropriately restrained during bacterial infections. The Super susceptibility to tuberculosis 1 (Sst1) locus in mice confers resistance to diverse bacterial infections. Here we provide evidence that Sp140 is a gene encoded within the Sst1 locus that represses type I IFN transcription during bacterial infections. We generated Sp140-/- mice and find they are susceptible to infection by Legionella pneumophila and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Susceptibility of Sp140-/- mice to bacterial infection was rescued by crosses to mice lacking the type I IFN receptor (Ifnar-/-). Our results implicate Sp140 as an important negative regulator of type I IFNs that is essential for resistance to bacterial infections.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelique CHAUVINEAU-GRENIER ◽  
Paul BASTARD ◽  
Antoine SERVAJEAN ◽  
Adrian GERVAIS ◽  
Jeremie ROSAIN ◽  
...  

Abstract Recent studies reported the presence of pre-existing autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing type I interferons (IFNs) in at least 15% of patients with critical or severe COVID-19 pneumonia. In one study, these auto-Abs were found in almost 20% of deceased patients across all ages. We aimed to assess the prevalence and clinical impact of the auto-Abs to type I IFNs in Seine-Saint-Denis district, which was one of the most affected areas by COVID-19 in France during the first wave. We tested for the presence of auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs in a cohort of patients admitted for critical COVID-19 pneumonia during the first wave in the spring of 2020 in medicine departments at Robert Ballanger Hospital, Aulnay sous Bois. We found circulating auto-Abs that neutralized 100 pg/mL IFN-α2 and/or IFN-ω in plasma 1/10 in 7.9% (11 of 139) of patients hospitalized for critical COVID-19. The presence of neutralizing auto-Abs was associated with an increased risk of mortality as these auto-Abs were detected in 21% of patients who died from COVID-19 pneumonia. Deceased patients with and without auto-Abs did not present overt clinical differences. These results confirm both the importance of IFN-I immunity in host defense against SARS-CoV-2 infection and the usefulness of detection of auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs in the management of patients.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. e000336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary K. Crow ◽  
Lars Ronnblom

Type I interferons (IFN) can have dual and opposing roles in immunity, with effects that are beneficial or detrimental to the individual depending on whether IFN pathway activation is transient or sustained. Determinants of IFN production and its functional consequences include the nature of the microbial or nucleic acid stimulus, the type of nucleic acid sensor involved in inducing IFN, the predominant subtype of type I IFN produced and the immune ecology of the tissue at the time of IFN expression. When dysregulated, the type I IFN system drives many autoimmune and non-autoimmune inflammatory diseases, including SLE and the tissue inflammation associated with chronic infection. The type I IFN system may also contribute to outcomes for patients affected by solid cancers or myocardial infarction. Significantly more research is needed to discern the mechanisms of induction and response to type I IFNs across these diseases, and patient endophenotyping may help determine whether the cytokine is acting as ‘friend’ or ‘foe’, within a particular patient, and at the time of treatment. This review summarises key concepts and discussions from the second International Summit on Interferons in Inflammatory Diseases, during which expert clinicians and scientists evaluated the evidence for the role of type I IFNs in autoimmune and other inflammatory diseases.


eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward T Schmid ◽  
Iris K Pang ◽  
Eugenio A Carrera Silva ◽  
Lidia Bosurgi ◽  
Jonathan J Miner ◽  
...  

The receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) AXL is induced in response to type I interferons (IFNs) and limits their production through a negative feedback loop. Enhanced production of type I IFNs in Axl-/- dendritic cells (DCs) in vitro have led to speculation that inhibition of AXL would promote antiviral responses. Notwithstanding, type I IFNs also exert potent immunosuppressive functions. Here we demonstrate that ablation of AXL enhances the susceptibility to infection by influenza A virus and West Nile virus. The increased type I IFN response in Axl-/- mice was associated with diminished DC maturation, reduced production of IL-1β, and defective antiviral T cell immunity. Blockade of type I IFN receptor or administration of IL-1β to Axl-/- mice restored the antiviral adaptive response and control of infection. Our results demonstrate that AXL is essential for limiting the immunosuppressive effects of type I IFNs and enabling the induction of protective antiviral adaptive immunity.


Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 856
Author(s):  
Martina Musella ◽  
Claudia Galassi ◽  
Nicoletta Manduca ◽  
Antonella Sistigu

Type I Interferons (IFNs) are key regulators of natural and therapy-induced host defense against viral infection and cancer. Several years of remarkable progress in the field of oncoimmunology have revealed the dual nature of these cytokines. Hence, Type I IFNs may trigger anti-tumoral responses, while leading immune dysfunction and disease progression. This dichotomy relies on the duration and intensity of the transduced signaling, the nature of the unleashed IFN stimulated genes, and the subset of responding cells. Here, we discuss the role of Type I IFNs in the evolving relationship between the host immune system and cancer, as we offer a view of the therapeutic strategies that exploit and require an intact Type I IFN signaling, and the role of these cytokines in inducing adaptive resistance. A deep understanding of the complex, yet highly regulated, network of Type I IFN triggered molecular pathways will help find a timely and immune“logical” way to exploit these cytokines for anticancer therapy.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Goncalves ◽  
Mehdi Mezidi ◽  
Paul Bastard ◽  
Magali Perret ◽  
Kahina Saker ◽  
...  

Objectives Impairment of type I interferon (IFN-I) immunity has been reported in critically ill COVID-19 patients. This defect can be explained by the presence of circulating autoantibodies against IFN-I. We set out to improve the detection and the quantification of such antibodies (Abs) in a cohort of severe Covid-19 patients, in an effort to better document the prevalence of these Abs as the pandemics evolves and how they correlate with the clinical course of the disease. Methods Anti-IFN-a Abs was investigated 84 critical COVID-19 patients who were admitted to ICU at the Lyon University Hospital, France with a commercially available kit (Thermo-Fisher). Results Twenty-one patients out of 84 (25%) had anti-IFNa2 Ab above cut-off (>34ng/mL) in sera. A neutralizing activity against IFN-a2 was evidenced in 15 of them, suggesting that 18% of patients were positive for neutralizing anti-IFN-a and -w auto-Abs. In addition, in most of patients with neutralizing IFN-I Abs, we noticed an impairment of the IFN-I response. However, we did not find any difference in terms of clinical characteristics or outcome between critical COVID-19 patients with or without neutralizing anti-IFN-a2 auto-Abs in these conditions. Finally, we detected anti-type I IFN auto-Abs in sera of COVID-19 patients were detected throughout the ICU stay. Conclusions We report that 18% of severe COVID-19 patients were positive for these Anti-Type-I IFN Abs, confirming the detrimental role of these Abs on the antiviral response. Our results further support the use of recombinant type I IFNs not targeted by the auto-Abs (e.g., IFN-b) in COVID-19 patients with an impaired IFN-I response.


2021 ◽  
Vol 292 ◽  
pp. 03095
Author(s):  
Zhenni Lu

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which can lead to the development severe pneumonia. While some hospital data shows a positive correlation between smoking and severe pneumonia, more molecular-level mechanisms need to be determined. The previous study investigates the mechanism of the negative effect of smoking on anti-viral infection on Type I interferons (IFNs). Research has shown that Type I IFNs play an important role in defending against SARS-Cov-2. Here, we want to investigate smoking components’ effects on SARS-CoV-2 at the molecular level in vitro and give some ideas on the correlation between smoking and syndrome.


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