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8.9
5.2
Journals
Vaccines
Special Issues
Host-Directed Immunotherapies for COVID-19
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Host-Directed Immunotherapies for COVID-19

A special issue of Vaccines (ISSN 2076-393X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 1885

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Dhiraj Acharya

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Cleveland Clinic Florida Research and Innovation Center, Port St. Lucie, FL, USA
Interests: human pathogenic viruses; antiviral immune responses
Dr. Shyam Prakash Dumre

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Central Department of Microbiology, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal
Interests: infection diseases; immunology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The significant morbidities and rapid surge in death toll associated with COVID-19 pandemic led to the prompt development of effective vaccines, re-evaluation of existing therapeutics (repurpose trials) and identification of novel treatment strategies. Among these, immunomodulatory drugs (e.g., anti-IL-6 agents) were extensively evaluated and used particularly during the pre-vaccine era, spurred by clinical data suggesting the immune dysregulation associated with severe COVID-19 pathology. It is now well established that immunological factors such as inflammatory cell infiltration and overzealous production of inflammatory cytokines, among others, are the contributing factors for “cytokine storm”, the hallmark of COVID-19 associated pathology and disease severity. This provides strong rationale for the therapeutic use of immunomodulatory drugs in ameliorating COVID-19 pathology. While such immunotherapies against COVID-19 are evolving and improving, there are several challenges (e.g., timing of introduction, immunotherapy-related toxicities) for such therapies to meet adequate therapeutic benefit. On the other hand, host immunity plays a vital role in viral clearance in mild to non-severe COVID-19 patients who recover from the disease. As such, counterproductive role of immunomodulatory drugs when introduced particularly during the early stage of COVID-19 disease course should not be undermined. 

In this Special Issue, we invite the authors to contribute a research paper or review to highlight promise and application of host-directed immunotherapies that modulates innate and/or adaptive immune responses associated with COVID-19 pathology. Studies focusing on host-directed immunotherapies that enhance antiviral immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 (e.g., interferon based therapeutics) and novel immunotherapeutic approaches against COVID-19 are also welcome. We do not encourage the authors to submit manuscripts in the field of therapeutic vaccines (active and passive) in this issue.

Dr. Dhiraj Acharya
Dr. Shyam Prakash Dumre
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Vaccines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • immunotherapies
  • SARS-CoV-2 infection
  • immune response
  • immunomodulators

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

11 pages, 266 KiB  
Article
Association of Human Leucocyte Antigen Polymorphism with Coronavirus Disease 19 in Renal Transplant Recipients
by Narayan Prasad, Brijesh Yadav, Swayam Prakash, Deependra Yadav, Ankita Singh, Sonam Gautam, Dharmendra Bhadauria, Anupama Kaul, Manas Ranjan Patel, Manas Ranjan Behera, Ravi Shankar Kushwaha and Monika Yachha
Vaccines 2022, 10(11), 1840; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10111840 - 30 Oct 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1602
Abstract
Human leucocyte antigens (HLAs) are highly polymorphic glycoproteins expressed at the surface of all nucleated cells. It is required for the SARS-CoV-2 peptide antigen presentation to immune cells for their effector response. However, polymorphism in HLA significantly impacts the binding of SARS-CoV-2 antigenic [...] Read more.
Human leucocyte antigens (HLAs) are highly polymorphic glycoproteins expressed at the surface of all nucleated cells. It is required for the SARS-CoV-2 peptide antigen presentation to immune cells for their effector response. However, polymorphism in HLA significantly impacts the binding of SARS-CoV-2 antigenic peptide to the HLA pocket and regulates immune activation. In this study, 514 renal transplant recipients (RTRs) were recruited from the outpatient department and categorized either into symptomatic (n = 173) or asymptomatic groups (n = 341) based on Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) symptoms. The anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-specific IgG antibody titer was measured by chemiluminescent microparticle immune-assay methods in 310 RTRs. The HLA details of 514 patients were retrieved from the electronic medical records and analyzed retrospectively. We found that HLA antigen allele A*24 was significantly associated with asymptomatic infection in 22.78%, HLA C*02 in 4.51%, DRB1*12 in 10.85%, and HLA DQA1*02 in 27.74% of RTRs. Whereas HLA A*29 in 3.46%, A*33 in 26.01%, B*13 in 10.40%, DRB1*10 in 4.62%, DRB1*15 in 39.30%, DRB1*30 in 1.15%, and DQA1*60 in 3.57% of RTRs were associated with symptomatic infection. HLA DRB1*13 and DRB1*15 were associated with moderate to severe degrees of COVID-19 disease. The seroconversion rate in asymptomatic patients was 118/137 (86.13%), had a median titer of 647.80 au/mL, compared to symptomatic patients 148/173 (85.54%) with a median titer of 400.00 au/mL, which was not significant between the two groups (p = 0.88 and 0.13). In conclusion, HLA alleles A*24, C*02, DRB1*12, and DQA1*02 were significantly associated with asymptomatic infection, and A*29, A*33, B*13, DRB1*10, DRB*15, and DRB1*30 were significantly associated with symptomatic infection. HLA DRB1*13 and DRB1*15 were associated with moderate to severe degrees of COVID-19 disease. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Host-Directed Immunotherapies for COVID-19)
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