The following is a summary of “Immunological insights: assessing immune parameters in medical professionals exposed to SARS-CoV-2,” published in the August 2024 issue of Infectious Disease by Wojas-Krawczyk et al.
COVID-19 is caused by several immunological responses and factors that protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection, but these have yet to be covered.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study investigating the immune system in patients exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection.
They analyzed 71 people with infectious diseases between November 2020 and October 2021 while 35 were diagnosed with Symptomatic COVID-19, and 8 had anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. ELISA and Flow cytometry were used to determine cytokines concentration, anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, and peripheral blood mononuclear cell subpopulations, respectively.
The results showed high percentages of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), CD28+, and T helper (Th) cells with invariant T-cell receptors in persons with symptomatic COVID-19. On the contrary, symptomatic COVID-19 persons had lower percentages of CTLs in the late stage of activation (CD8+/CD95+), NK cells,regulatory-like Th cells (CD4+/CTLA-4+), and Th17-like cells (CD4+/CD161+Allergy & Immunology) as compared to asymptomatic COVID-19’ persons and a significantly higher lymphocyte count and IL-6 concentration was observed in patients with anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.
They concluded a high percentage of both population’s NK cells, as nonspecific response, and T helper cells, as regulating the immune response, played an essential role in protection against the acute COVID-19 symptoms.
Source: bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-024-09772-5#Abs1
