Assessment of CD39 expression in regulatory T-cell subsets by disease severity in adult and juvenile COVID-19 cases

J Med Virol. 2022 May;94(5):2089-2101. doi: 10.1002/jmv.27593. Epub 2022 Jan 26.

Abstract

COVID-19 is a disease characterized by acute respiratory failure and is a major health problem worldwide. Here, we aimed to investigate the role of CD39 expression in Treg cell subsets in COVID-19 immunopathogenesis and its relationship to disease severity. One hundred and ninety COVID-19 patients (juveniles, adults) and 43 volunteers as healthy controls were enrolled in our study. Flow cytometric analysis was performed using a 10-color monoclonal antibody panel from peripheral blood samples. In adult patients, CD39+ Tregs increased with disease severity. In contrast, CD39+ Tregs were decreased in juvenile patients in an age-dependent manner. Overall, our study reveals an interesting profile of CD39-expressing Tregs in adult and juvenile cases of COVID-19. Our results provide a better understanding of the possible role of Tregs in the mechanism of immune response in COVID-19 cases.

Keywords: CD39; COVID-19; FoxP3; Tregs; infectious diseases.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Apyrase* / biosynthesis
  • Apyrase* / immunology
  • Apyrase* / metabolism
  • COVID-19* / immunology
  • COVID-19* / metabolism
  • Forkhead Transcription Factors
  • Humans
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • T-Lymphocyte Subsets / immunology
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory* / immunology

Substances

  • Forkhead Transcription Factors
  • Apyrase
  • ENTPD1 protein, human