Immunity Profiling of COVID-19 Infection, Dynamic Variations of Lymphocyte Subsets, a Comparative Analysis on Four Different Groups

Balzanelli, Mario Giosuè; Distratis, Pietro; Dipalma, Gianna; Vimercati, Luigi; Catucci, Orazio; Amatulli, Felice; Cefalo, Angelo; Lazzaro, Rita; Palazzo, Davide; Aityan, Sergey Khachatur; Pricolo, Giancarla; Prudenzano, Antonella; D’Errico, Patrizia; Laforgia, Rita; Pezzolla, Angela; Tomassone, Diego; Inchingolo, Alessio Danilo; Pham, Van Hung; Iacobone, Donatello; Materi, Giuseppe Mancusi; Scarano, Antonio; Lorusso, Felice; Inchingolo, Francesco; Nguyen, Kieu Cao Diem; Isacco, Ciro Gargiulo

doi:10.3390/microorganisms9102036

Open AccessArticle

Immunity Profiling of COVID-19 Infection, Dynamic Variations of Lymphocyte Subsets, a Comparative Analysis on Four Different Groups

by

Mario Giosuè Balzanelli

^1,†,

Pietro Distratis

^1,†,

Gianna Dipalma

²

,

Luigi Vimercati

²

,

Orazio Catucci

¹,

Felice Amatulli

¹,

Angelo Cefalo

¹,

Rita Lazzaro

¹

,

Davide Palazzo

¹,

Sergey Khachatur Aityan

³,

Giancarla Pricolo

⁴,

Antonella Prudenzano

⁴,

Patrizia D’Errico

⁴,

Rita Laforgia

⁵

,

Angela Pezzolla

⁵,

Diego Tomassone

⁶,

Alessio Danilo Inchingolo

^2,*

,

Van Hung Pham

⁷,

Donatello Iacobone

⁸,

Giuseppe Mancusi Materi

⁹,

Antonio Scarano

¹⁰

,

Felice Lorusso

^10,*

,

Francesco Inchingolo

^2,†

,

Kieu Cao Diem Nguyen

^2,11,† and

Ciro Gargiulo Isacco

^{1,2,7,11,*,†} Show full author list Hide full author list

¹

SET-118, Department of Pre-Hospital and Emergency, SG Giuseppe Moscati Hospital, 74100 Taranto, Italy

²

Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy

³

Director Multidisciplinary Research Center, Lincoln University, Oakland, CA 94612, USA

⁴

Department of Hematology, SS. Annunziata, 74100 Taranto, Italy

⁵

Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy

⁶

Foundation of Physics Research Center, 87053 Celico, Italy

⁷

Department of Microbiology, “Phan Chau Trinh” University of Medicine and Nam-Khoa Biotek, Ho Chi Minh 50000, Vietnam

⁸

SET-118, Department of Pre-Hospital and Emergency, BAT, 76121 Barletta, Italy

⁹

Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit, Department of Emergency, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy

¹⁰

Department of Innovative Technologies in Medicine and Dentistry, University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy

¹¹

American Stem Cells Hospital, Ho Chi Minh 70000, Vietnam

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^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work as co-first Authors.

Microorganisms 2021, 9(10), 2036; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9102036

Submission received: 29 August 2021 / Accepted: 14 September 2021 / Published: 26 September 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in COVID-19 Receptor, Interaction, Biological Dynamic and Innovative Therapies)

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Abstract

Background: A novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)-induced pneumonia (COVID-19) emerged in December 2019 in China, spreading worldwide. The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the immunological response and the clinical subset of peripheral lymphocyte subset alteration in COVID-19 infection. Methods: the study was conducted on four different clinical groups (n = 4; total n = 138). Each individual was assigned to different groups based on specific criteria evaluated at the admission such as fever, dyspnea, arterial blood gas analysis (ABG), oral-nasopharyngeal swab/RT-PCR, and thoracic CT-scan. Treatment was performed only after blood samples were collected from each patient (PP and PP) at day 1. The blood samples were analyzed and tested the same day (CBC and Flowcytometry). The positive–positive group (PP n = 45; F = 18/ M = 27; median age = 62.33), comprised individuals affected by COVID-19 who showed fever, dyspnea (ABG = pO2 < 60), confirmed positive by oral-nasopharyngeal swab/RT-PCR and with CT-scan showing ground-glass opacities. The negative–positive (NP; n = 37; F = 11/M = 26; median age = 75.94) or “COVID-like” group comprised individuals with fever and dyspnea (ABG = pO2 < 60), who tested negative to nasopharyngeal swab/RT-PCR, with CT-scans showing ground-glass opacities in the lungs. The negative–affected group (NA; n = 40; F = 14/M = 26; median age = 58.5) included individuals negative to COVID-19 (RT-PCR) but affected by different chronic respiratory diseases (the CT-scans didn’t show ground-glass opacities). Finally, the negative–negative group (NN; n = 16; F = 14/M = 2) included healthy patients (NN; n = 16; median age = 42.62). Data and findings were collected and compared. Results: Lymphocytes (%) cells showed a decline in COVID-19 patients. The subsets showed a significant association with the inflammatory status in COVID-19, especially with regard to increased neutrophils, T-killer, T-active, T-suppressor, and T-CD8+CD38+ in individuals belong to the either COVID-19 and Covid-like NP group. Conclusions: Peripheral lymphocyte subset alteration was associated with the clinical characteristics and progression of COVID-19. The level of sub-set cells T-lymphocytes (either high or low) and B-lymphocytes could be used as an independent predictor for COVID-19 severity and treatment efficacy.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; cellular immunity; coronavirus; humoral response; broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF)

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MDPI and ACS Style

Balzanelli, M.G.; Distratis, P.; Dipalma, G.; Vimercati, L.; Catucci, O.; Amatulli, F.; Cefalo, A.; Lazzaro, R.; Palazzo, D.; Aityan, S.K.; et al. Immunity Profiling of COVID-19 Infection, Dynamic Variations of Lymphocyte Subsets, a Comparative Analysis on Four Different Groups. Microorganisms 2021, 9, 2036. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9102036

AMA Style

Balzanelli MG, Distratis P, Dipalma G, Vimercati L, Catucci O, Amatulli F, Cefalo A, Lazzaro R, Palazzo D, Aityan SK, et al. Immunity Profiling of COVID-19 Infection, Dynamic Variations of Lymphocyte Subsets, a Comparative Analysis on Four Different Groups. Microorganisms. 2021; 9(10):2036. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9102036

Chicago/Turabian Style

Balzanelli, Mario Giosuè, Pietro Distratis, Gianna Dipalma, Luigi Vimercati, Orazio Catucci, Felice Amatulli, Angelo Cefalo, Rita Lazzaro, Davide Palazzo, Sergey Khachatur Aityan, and et al. 2021. "Immunity Profiling of COVID-19 Infection, Dynamic Variations of Lymphocyte Subsets, a Comparative Analysis on Four Different Groups" Microorganisms 9, no. 10: 2036. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9102036

APA Style

Balzanelli, M. G., Distratis, P., Dipalma, G., Vimercati, L., Catucci, O., Amatulli, F., Cefalo, A., Lazzaro, R., Palazzo, D., Aityan, S. K., Pricolo, G., Prudenzano, A., D’Errico, P., Laforgia, R., Pezzolla, A., Tomassone, D., Inchingolo, A. D., Pham, V. H., Iacobone, D., ... Isacco, C. G. (2021). Immunity Profiling of COVID-19 Infection, Dynamic Variations of Lymphocyte Subsets, a Comparative Analysis on Four Different Groups. Microorganisms, 9(10), 2036. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9102036

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Immunity Profiling of COVID-19 Infection, Dynamic Variations of Lymphocyte Subsets, a Comparative Analysis on Four Different Groups

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