Peripheral T cell lymphopenia in COVID-19: potential mechanisms and impact
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Zhang, Sifan
Asquith, Becca
Szydlo, Richard
Tregoning, John
Pollock, Katrina
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Immunopathogenesis involving T lymphocytes, which play a key role in defence against viral infection, could contribute to the spectrum of COVID-19 disease and provide an avenue for treatment. To address this question, are view of clinical observational studies and autopsy data in English and Chinese languages was conducted with a search of registered clinical trials. Peripheral lymphopenia affecting CD4 and CD8 T cells was a striking feature of severe COVID-19 compared with non-severe disease. Autopsy data demonstrated infiltration of T cells into organs, particularly the lung. 74 clinical trials are on-going that could target T cell-related pathogenesis, particularly IL-6 pathways. SARS-CoV-2 infection interrupts T cell circulation in patients with severe COVID-19. This could be due to redistribution of T cells into infected organs, activation induced exhaustion, apoptosis or pyroptosis. Measuring T cell dynamics during COVID-19 will inform clinical risk-stratification of hospitalised patients and could identify those who would benefit most from 66treatments that target T cells
Date Issued
2021-07-02
Date Acceptance
2021-06-18
Citation
Immunotherapy Advances, 2021, 1 (1), pp.1-18
ISSN
2732-4303
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Start Page
1
End Page
18
Journal / Book Title
Immunotherapy Advances
Volume
1
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Immunology.This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Publication Status
Published