PD-1 blockade counteracts post-COVID-19 immune abnormalities and stimulates the anti-SARS-CoV-2 immune response.

ABSTRACT: A substantial proportion of patients who have recovered from coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) experience COVID-19-related symptoms even months after hospital discharge. We extensively immunologically characterized patients who recovered from COVID-19. In these patients, T cells were exhausted, with increased PD-1+ T cells, as compared with healthy controls. Plasma levels of IL-1β, IL-1RA, and IL-8, among others, were also increased in patients who recovered from COVID-19. This altered immunophenotype was mirrored by a reduced ex vivo T cell response to both nonspecific and specific stimulation, revealing a dysfunctional status of T cells, including a poor response to SARS-CoV-2 antigens. Altered levels of plasma soluble PD-L1, as well as of PD1 promoter methylation and PD1-targeting miR

SUBMITTER: Loretelli C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8783674 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature