Journal Article

High Levels of Circulating IL-8 and Soluble IL-2R Are Associated With Prolonged Illness in Patients With Severe COVID-19

Weng, Chaohang, Zhang, Liang, Wang, Zhanxiang, Ye, Xiaokai, Petersen, Frank, Ma, Aiping, Yu, Xinhua, Zhuang, Liangjin, Yu, Jie, Chen, Jing

2021

Overview

The coordinated immune response of the host is the key of the successful combat of the body against SARS-CoV-2 infection and is decisive for the development and progression of COVID-19. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether the immunological phenotype of patients are associated with duration of illness in patients with severe COVID-19. In this single-center study, 69 patients with severe or critical COVID-19 were recruited retrospectively. Immunological parameters including counts of white blood cells, neutrophils, lymphocytes, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and levels of circulating cytokines and cytokine receptors were screened for their association with disease severity, survival and duration of illness of COVID-19. Our data confirmed previous results that neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and circulating levels of IL-6 represent prominent biomarker for the prediction of disease severity and survival of COVID-19. However, this study shows for the first time that duration of illness in patients with severe COVID-19 is positively associated with serum levels of IL-8 ( =0.004) and soluble IL-2Rα ( =0.025). The significant association of duration of illness with circulating levels of IL-8 and soluble IL-2Rα in patients with severe COVID-19 implicates that neutrophils and T cells are involved in the evolution of COVID-19.

• Publisher: Frontiers Media SA,Frontiers Media S.A
• Subject: Adult / Aged / Aged, 80 and over / Antibiotics / Biomarkers - blood / Clinical outcomes / Comorbidity / coronavirus disease 2019 / COVID-19 / COVID-19 - blood / COVID-19 - immunology / Cytokine receptors / Cytokines / Cytokines - blood / Cytokines - immunology / Diabetes / Dyspnea / Fatalities / Female / Fever / Hospitals / Humans / Hypertension / Illnesses / Immune response / Immunology / Interleukin 2 receptors / interleukin 6 / Interleukin 8 / Interleukin-8 - blood / Interleukin-8 - immunology / Leukocyte Count / Leukocytes (neutrophilic) / Lymphocyte Count / Lymphocytes - immunology / Lymphocytes T / Male / Middle Aged / neutrophil-to-lymphocytes ratio / Neutrophils - immunology / Patients / Phenotypes / Receptors, Interleukin-2 - blood / Receptors, Interleukin-2 - immunology / Retrospective Studies / Review boards / SARS-CoV-2 - isolation & purification / Serum levels / Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 / severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus−2 / Severity of Illness Index / soluble interleukin 2 receptor