Significant changes of CD4, FOXP3, CD25, and IL6 expression level in Iranian COVID-19 patients

AIM: Evaluating the expression level of CD4(+) FoxP3(+) CD25(+) T cells and IL-6 in peripheral blood samples of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. BACKGROUND: COVID-19 is an emerging disease with worldwide distribution. However, there is a little data about the correlation between the disease and the host immune responses. METHODS: Whole blood samples of 30 COVID-19 patients and eight healthy people were collected during March to June 2020. Total RNA was extracted from the samples, cDNA synthesis was performed, and the expression level of targeted genes was evaluated using quantitative real-time PCR. RESULTS: The expression level of CD4, CD25, and Foxp3 was significantly downregulated 5-, 2-, and 3-fold, respectively, among COVID-19 patients in comparison to healthy controls (P-value < 0.0001). The expression level of IL-6 represented almost 18-fold increase in COVID-19 patients compared to healthy controls. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicated the expression profile analysis of CD4(+) FoxP3(+) CD25(+) T cells could be a potential marker for the assessment of severity of COVID-19 patients.