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Cytokine Response to SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Children

The causal connection between serum biomarkers and COVID-19 severity or pathogenicity in children is unclear. The aim of this study was to describe clinical and immunological features of children affected by COVID-19. The secondary aim was to evaluate whether these cytokines could predict severity o...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Curatola, Antonietta, Chiaretti, Antonio, Ferretti, Serena, Bersani, Giulia, Lucchetti, Donatella, Capossela, Lavinia, Sgambato, Alessandro, Gatto, Antonio
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8473005/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34578450
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v13091868
Descripción
Sumario:The causal connection between serum biomarkers and COVID-19 severity or pathogenicity in children is unclear. The aim of this study was to describe clinical and immunological features of children affected by COVID-19. The secondary aim was to evaluate whether these cytokines could predict severity of COVID-19. All children (aged 0−18) admitted to the Pediatric Emergency Department and tested with nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2 were recruited and assigned to three groups: COVID-19, other infections, control group. Clinical and laboratory data of these patients, including circulating cytokine levels, were analyzed in three groups. Fever was the most frequent symptom in COVID-19 (67.3%). Neutropenia was found in the COVID-19 group (p < 0.05); no difference was observed for lymphocyte counts in the three groups. Higher levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha were found in the COVID-19 group compared to other infections and control groups (p = 0.014 and p = 0.001, respectively). Whereas, in the COVID-19 group, no difference was observed as for the same cytokines among sub-groups of different disease severity (p = 0.7 and p = 0.8). Serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha were higher in COVID-19 children than in children with other infectious diseases, but those levels did not correlate with disease severity. Clinical studies in a large pediatric population are necessary to better define the role of the immune-mediated response in SARS-CoV-2 infections in children.