Arman Shafiee, S. Rezaian, Mansur Aliyu, Ali Shayeghpour, Z. Mokhames, Hamed Mohammadi, Somayeh Yaslianifard, A. Soleimani, Fatemeh Soleimanifar, Taranom Tojari, M. Qorbani, Sayed-Hamidreza Mozhgani
{"title":"Immunologic Profile of Severe COVID-19 Patients in Alborz Province, Iran","authors":"Arman Shafiee, S. Rezaian, Mansur Aliyu, Ali Shayeghpour, Z. Mokhames, Hamed Mohammadi, Somayeh Yaslianifard, A. Soleimani, Fatemeh Soleimanifar, Taranom Tojari, M. Qorbani, Sayed-Hamidreza Mozhgani","doi":"10.5812/jjm-134264","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has prompted researchers to look for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pathogenicity in depth. Immune system dysregulation was one of the major mechanisms in its pathogenesis. The evidence regarding the levels of interferons (IFNs) and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in COVID-19 patients is not well-established. Objectives: Therefore, this study evaluated the expression level of type-I, II, III IFNs, along with interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and FOXP3 genes in patients with severe COVID-19 to provide additional insights regarding the regulation of these cytokines during COVID-19 infection. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from two groups, including severe COVID-19 patients and healthy controls. Ribonucleic acid was extracted to evaluate the expression level of IFN-a, IFN-b, IFN-g, IFN-la, IL-1, IL-6, IL-10, and FOXP3 genes using real-time polymerase chain reaction. The correlations between the expression levels of these genes were also assessed. Results: A total of 40 samples were divided into two groups, with each group consisting of 20 samples. When comparing the severe COVID-19 group to the controls, the expression levels of IFN-g, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), IL-6, and IL-10 genes were significantly higher in the severe COVID-19 group. The two groups had no significant differences in IFN-a, IFN-b, IFN-la, IL-1, and FOXP3 expression. The correlation analysis revealed a negative correlation between type I and type III IFNs (i.e., IFN-a and IFN-la) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (i.e., IL-1 and IL-10). Conclusions: This study suggests the possible upregulation of IFN-g, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α during SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity. The preliminary findings of this study and those reported previously show that the levels of IFNs and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines are not uniformly expressed among all COVID-19 patients and might differ as the disease progresses to the severe stage.","PeriodicalId":17803,"journal":{"name":"Jundishapur Journal of Microbiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5000,"publicationDate":"2023-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Jundishapur Journal of Microbiology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5812/jjm-134264","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"MICROBIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has prompted researchers to look for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pathogenicity in depth. Immune system dysregulation was one of the major mechanisms in its pathogenesis. The evidence regarding the levels of interferons (IFNs) and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in COVID-19 patients is not well-established. Objectives: Therefore, this study evaluated the expression level of type-I, II, III IFNs, along with interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and FOXP3 genes in patients with severe COVID-19 to provide additional insights regarding the regulation of these cytokines during COVID-19 infection. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from two groups, including severe COVID-19 patients and healthy controls. Ribonucleic acid was extracted to evaluate the expression level of IFN-a, IFN-b, IFN-g, IFN-la, IL-1, IL-6, IL-10, and FOXP3 genes using real-time polymerase chain reaction. The correlations between the expression levels of these genes were also assessed. Results: A total of 40 samples were divided into two groups, with each group consisting of 20 samples. When comparing the severe COVID-19 group to the controls, the expression levels of IFN-g, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), IL-6, and IL-10 genes were significantly higher in the severe COVID-19 group. The two groups had no significant differences in IFN-a, IFN-b, IFN-la, IL-1, and FOXP3 expression. The correlation analysis revealed a negative correlation between type I and type III IFNs (i.e., IFN-a and IFN-la) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (i.e., IL-1 and IL-10). Conclusions: This study suggests the possible upregulation of IFN-g, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α during SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity. The preliminary findings of this study and those reported previously show that the levels of IFNs and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines are not uniformly expressed among all COVID-19 patients and might differ as the disease progresses to the severe stage.
期刊介绍:
Jundishapur Journal of Microbiology, (JJM) is the official scientific Monthly publication of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. JJM is dedicated to the publication of manuscripts on topics concerning all aspects of microbiology. The topics include medical, veterinary and environmental microbiology, molecular investigations and infectious diseases. Aspects of immunology and epidemiology of infectious diseases are also considered.