Abstract
Background:Little is known about the dynamic changes in the patient immune responses to SARS-CoV-2, and how different responses are correlated with disease severity and outcomes.Method:A total of 74 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were included from January 29th to February 15th 2020. Clinical characteristics and dynamic changes in immune response were analyzed and compared between severe and non-severe patients. ResultsOf the 74 patients, 17 suffered from severe disease and 57 from non-severe disease. Patients with severe disease tended be older (65.29 ± 12.33 years vs. 45.37 ± 18.66 years), and had a greater degree of underlying disease (41.18% vs. 24.56%) , lower lymphocytes counts (0.69 ± 0.36 × 10⁹ vs. 1.46 ± 0.75 × 10⁹) , higher neutrophil-lymphocyte-ratios (NLRs; 3.76 (3.15–5.51) vs. 2.07 (1.48–2.93)) and lower eosinophil counts (0.01 ± 0.01 × 10⁹ vs. 0.05 ± 0.07 × 10⁹), than that in non-severe patients. The number of immune cell subtypes, including helper T cells, suppressor T cells, B cells, and natural killer cells was significantly decreased in severe cases compared to that in non-severe cases (335.47 vs. 666.46/mL; 158 vs. 334/mL; 95 vs. 210/mL; 52 vs. 122/mL, respectively). As the condition of the patients improved, the number of neutrophils decreased significantly in the severe patients. All patients who recovered exhibited a gradual and persistent increase in eosinophil counts and lymphocyte counts, including helper T cells, suppressor T cells, and natural killer cells. In addition, the levels of most of inflammatory cytokines, including IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, and TNF–α generally decreased as the patients gradually recovered.ConclusionsCollectively, our study provides novel information on the kinetics of the immune responses to COVID-19. Furthermore, our study indicates that both innate and adaptive immune responses correlate with better clinical outcomes.