Cutting Edge: Hyperinflammatory Monocytes Expressing CD56 Abound in Severe COVID-19 Patients.
Abstract
Proinflammatory monocytes play a preponderant role in the development of a cytokine storm causing fatal consequences in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, highlighting the importance of analyzing in more detail monocyte distribution in these patients. In this study, we identified an atypical monocyte subpopulation expressing CD56 molecules that showed a low level of HLA-DR and high level of L-selectin. They released higher amounts of TNF-alpha and IL-6 and expressed genes associated with an excessive inflammatory process. Remarkably, the frequency of CD56+ monocytes inversely correlated with that of CD16+ monocytes and a high CD56+/CD16+monocyte ratio was associated with both disease severity and mortality, as well as with serum concentration of type I IFN, a factor able to induce the appearance of CD56+ monocytes. In conclusion, severe COVID-19 is characterized by the abundance of hyperinflammatory CD56+ monocytes, which could represent a novel marker with prognostic significance and, possibly, a therapeutic target for controlling the inflammatory process occurring during COVID-19.
| Authors: | Campana S, De Pasquale C, Sidoti Migliore G, Pezzino G, Cavaliere R, Venanzi Rullo E, Nunnari G, Caramori G, David A, Bonaccorsi I, Pollicino T, Carrega P, Ferlazzo G, |
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| Journal: | J Immunol;2022Jul27. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.2200021 |
| Year: | 2022 |
| PubMed: | PMID: 35896335 (Go to PubMed) |