A Comparative Study of the Plasma Chemokine Profile in COVID-19 Patients Infected with Different SARS-CoV-2 Variants
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Results
2.1. The Chemokine Profile in Patients Infected with the Ancestral Wuhan Variant
2.2. The Chemokine Profile in Patients Infected with the Alpha Variant
2.3. The Chemokine Profile in Patients Infected with the Delta Variant
2.4. The Chemokine Profile in Patients Infected with the Omicron Variant
2.5. A Comparison of the Chemokines between the Variants
3. Discussion
3.1. Chemokines of the C-C Subfamily
3.1.1. CCL2/MCP-1
3.1.2. CCL3/MIP-1α and CCL4/MIP-1β
3.1.3. CCL7/MCP-3
3.1.4. CCL11/Eotaxin
3.1.5. CCL22/MDC
3.2. Chemokines of the C-X-C Subfamily
3.2.1. CXCL1/GROα
3.2.2. CXCL8/IL-8
3.2.3. CXCL9/MIG
3.2.4. CXCL10/IP-10
3.3. CX3C Family Chemokines: CX3CL1/Fractalkine
4. Materials and Methods
4.1. Samples
4.2. Patients
4.3. Genotyping of the SARS-CoV-2 Genetic Variants
4.4. Chemokine Detection
4.5. Statistical Analysis
5. Conclusions
- A statistically significant elevation in CCL2/MCP-1 concentrations in patients with COVID-19, independently from the variant. This tendency can be explained by the role MCP-1 plays in the attraction of monocytes to the sites of damaged vascular endothelium.
- A prominent increase in CXCL1/IP-10 levels in all the COVID-infected cohorts in comparison with healthy donors. IP-10 is often recognized as one of the markers of the cytokine storm; it is deeply involved in thrombosis and ARDS in patients with COVID-19.
- A statistically significant rise in CXCL8/IL-8 concentrations in patients with COVID-19, independently from the detected variant. This is a common finding in COVID-19 infection, and IL-8 is often recognized as a severity marker.
- A drop in the concentrations of CCL22/MDC in infected patients compared to healthy donors. In lung damage associated with other etiological factors (for instance, eosinophilic pneumonia or pulmonary hemorrhage), macrophage-derived chemokine was present in higher concentrations in plasma than it was in healthy donors. A decrease in the concentrations of this chemokine may be related to the life cycle of SARS-CoV-2. The severity of the disease is negatively correlated with the concentrations of MDC.
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Variant | Wuhan (n = 56) | Alpha (n = 95) | Delta (n = 78) | Omicron (n = 57) | Healthy Donors (n = 51) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Age, years (Me; Q25, Q75) | 66 (32; 75) | 72 (28; 84) | 71 (45; 93) | 69 (32; 91) | 49 (24; 69) |
Gender distribution | 50% female (n = 28); 50% male (n = 28) | 52.7% female (n = 50); 47.3% male (n = 45) | 64.1% female (n = 50); 35.9% male (n = 28) | 61.4% female (n = 35); 38.6% male (n = 22) | 58.8% female (n = 30), 41.2% male (n = 21) |
Variant | % of Patients, Diagnosed with ‘Mild’ Infection | % of Patients, Diagnosed with ‘Moderate’ Infection | % of Patients, Diagnosed with ‘Severe’ Infection |
---|---|---|---|
Ancestral Wuhan | 43.5% (n = 30) | 46.4% (n = 32) | 10.1% (n = 7) |
Alpha | 0 | 26.6% (n = 25) | 73.6% (n = 70) |
Delta | 0 | 34.6% (n = 27) | 65.4% (n = 51) |
Omicron | 0 | 75.4% (n = 43) | 24.6% (n = 14) |
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Korobova, Z.R.; Arsentieva, N.A.; Liubimova, N.E.; Dedkov, V.G.; Gladkikh, A.S.; Sharova, A.A.; Chernykh, E.I.; Kashchenko, V.A.; Ratnikov, V.A.; Gorelov, V.P.; et al. A Comparative Study of the Plasma Chemokine Profile in COVID-19 Patients Infected with Different SARS-CoV-2 Variants. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23, 9058. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23169058
Korobova ZR, Arsentieva NA, Liubimova NE, Dedkov VG, Gladkikh AS, Sharova AA, Chernykh EI, Kashchenko VA, Ratnikov VA, Gorelov VP, et al. A Comparative Study of the Plasma Chemokine Profile in COVID-19 Patients Infected with Different SARS-CoV-2 Variants. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2022; 23(16):9058. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23169058
Chicago/Turabian StyleKorobova, Zoia R., Natalia A. Arsentieva, Natalia E. Liubimova, Vladimir G. Dedkov, Anna S. Gladkikh, Alena A. Sharova, Ekaterina I. Chernykh, Victor A. Kashchenko, Vyacheslav A. Ratnikov, Victor P. Gorelov, and et al. 2022. "A Comparative Study of the Plasma Chemokine Profile in COVID-19 Patients Infected with Different SARS-CoV-2 Variants" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 23, no. 16: 9058. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23169058