Elevated Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies and IL-6, IL-8, MIP-1β, Early Predictors of Severe COVID-19

Abstract

Viral and host immune kinetics during acute COVID-19 and after remission of acute symptoms need better characterization. SARS-CoV-2 RNA, anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgA, IgM, and IgG antibodies, and proinflammatory cytokines were measured in sequential samples from hospitalized COVID-19 patients during acute infection and six months following diagnosis. Twenty four laboratory confirmed COVID-19 patients with mild/moderate and severe COVID-19 were included. Most were males (83%) with a median age of 61 years. Twenty one percent were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and eight of them (33.3%) met the criteria for severe COVID-19 disease. A delay in SARS-CoV-2 levels’ decline during the first six days of follow up, and viral load persistence until month 3 were related to severe COVID-19, but not viral load levels at the diagnosis. Higher levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgA, IgM, IgG and the cytokines IL-6, IL-8 and MIP-1β at the diagnosis time were related to the severe COVID-19 outcome. Higher levels of MIP-1β, IL-1β, MIP-1α and IFN-γ were observed at month 1 and 3 during mild/moderate disease, compared to severe COVID-19. IgG persisted at low levels after six months of diagnosis. In conclusion, higher concentrations of IgA, IgM, and IgG, and IL-6, IL-8 and MIP-1β are identified as early predictors of COVID-19 severity, whereas no significant association is found between baseline SARS-COV-2 viral load and COVID-19 severity.

Clinical, laboratory data and inflammatory biomarkers at baseline as early discharge predictors in hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 infected patients

“…This could explain why patients with higher levels of this cytokine and higher lymphocyte counts were discharged early [ 27 ]. On the other hand, as do other authors [ 29 – 31 ], we have not observed any relationship between plasma concentrations of IL-1β and worsening mortality [ 32 ]. The inclusion of these variables into the model improved predictive capacity by increasing sensitivity and NPV to the detriment of specificity and PPV.…”

High Levels of IL-1β, TNF-α and MIP-1α One Month after the Onset of the Acute SARS-CoV-2 Infection, Predictors of Post COVID-19 in Hospitalized Patients

“…It has been well described how levels of specific cytokines involved in this phenomenon are increased [17,18], leading to the development of a deregulated response and proinflammatory environment, which is related to the degree of severity and the outcome of COVID-19. Overall, elevated serum levels of some cytokines have been well associated with more severe disease [19]. In our study, significantly higher levels of IL-6, MIP-1β, IP-10, IL-8, IL-1β, IL-18 and TPX were observed during the onset of the acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to healthy controls.…”

“…Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID- 19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), rapidly spread around the world after its outbreak in December 2019, leading to the declaration of a pandemic in early March 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO) [1]. Since then, around 769 million cases of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 infection have been documented.…”

Evaluation of the immunomodulatory effects of interleukin-10 on peripheral blood immune cells of COVID-19 patients: Implication for COVID-19 therapy

“…Our results indicate in ex-vivo experiments that exogenous addition of IL-10 to whole-blood cells of COVID-19 patients reduces the SARS-CoV-2-specific immune response ( 36 ). We showed that IL-10 treatment downregulates the production of several immune factors in a similar way, independently of the COVID-19 status.…”