Affiliation:
1. NHC Key laboratory of Enteric Pathogenic Microbiology, Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanjing, China
2. Center for Global Health, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
Abstract
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We investigated the serum cytokine and chemokine levels in asymptomatic, mild, moderate, severe, and convalescent SARS-CoV-2–infected cases. Proinflammatory cytokine and chemokine production induced by SARS-CoV-2 were observed not only in symptomatic patients but also in asymptomatic cases, and returned to normal after recovery. IL-6, IL-7, IL-10, IL-18, G-CSF, M-CSF, MCP-1, MCP-3, IP-10, MIG, and MIP-1α were found to be associated with the severity of COVID-19. Moreover, a set of cytokine and chemokine profiles were significantly higher in SARS-CoV-2–infected male than female patients. The serum levels of MCP-1, G-CSF, and VEGF were weakly and positively correlated with viral titers. We suggest that combinatorial analysis of serum cytokines and chemokines with clinical classification may contribute to evaluation of the severity of COVID-19 and optimize the therapeutic strategies.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province
Key Research and Development Project of Jiangsu Province
Jiangsu provincial Medical Youth Talent
The Six One Project of Jiangsu Province
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Subject
Infectious Diseases,Immunology and Allergy