Long COVID manifests with T cell dysregulation, inflammation and an uncoordinated adaptive immune response to SARS-CoV-2.

ABSTRACT: Long COVID (LC) occurs after at least 10% of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections, yet its etiology remains poorly understood. We used 'omic" assays and serology to deeply characterize the global and SARS-CoV-2-specific immunity in the blood of individuals with clear LC and non-LC clinical trajectories, 8 months postinfection. We found that LC individuals exhibited systemic inflammation and immune dysregulation. This was evidenced by global differences in T cell subset distribution implying ongoing immune responses, as well as by sex-specific perturbations in cytolytic subsets. LC individuals displayed increased frequencies of CD4⁺ T cells poised to migrate to inflamed tissues and exhausted SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8⁺ T cells, higher le

SUBMITTER: Yin K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10834368 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature