1. Imbalance of SARS-CoV-2-specific CCR6+ and CXCR3+ CD4+ T cells and IFN-γ + CD8+ T cells in patients with Long-COVID.
- Author
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Martínez-Fleta P, Marcos MC, Jimenez-Carretero D, Galván-Román JM, Girón-Moreno RM, Calero-García AA, Arcos-García A, Martín-Gayo E, de la Fuente H, Esparcia-Pinedo L, Aspa J, Ancochea J, Alfranca A, and Sánchez-Madrid F
- Subjects
- Humans, Male, Female, Middle Aged, Aged, Adult, Receptors, CCR6 immunology, Receptors, CCR6 metabolism, CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes immunology, COVID-19 immunology, CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes immunology, Receptors, CXCR3 immunology, Receptors, CXCR3 metabolism, SARS-CoV-2 immunology, Interferon-gamma immunology, Interferon-gamma metabolism
- Abstract
Long-COVID (LC) is characterised by persistent symptoms for at least 3 months after acute infection. A dysregulation of the immune system and a persistent hyperinflammatory state may cause LC. LC patients present differences in activation and exhaustion states of innate and adaptive compartments. Different T CD4
+ cell subsets can be identified by differential expression of chemokine receptors (CCR). However, changes in T cells with expression of CCRs such as CCR6 and CXCR3 and their relationship with CD8+ T cells remains unexplored in LC. Here, we performed unsupervised analysis and found CCR6+ CD4+ subpopulations enriched in COVID-19 convalescent individuals upon activation with SARS-CoV-2 peptides. SARS-CoV-2 specific CCR6+ CD4+ are decreased in LC patients, whereas CXCR3+ CCR6- and CCR4+ CCR6- CD4+ T cells are increased. LC patients showed lower IFN-γ-secreting CD8+ T cells after stimulation with SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein. This work underscores the role of CCR6 in the pathophysiology of LC., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)- Published
- 2024
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