Dataset Information

Immune transcriptomes of highly exposed SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatic seropositive versus seronegative individuals from the Ischgl community.

ABSTRACT: SARS-CoV-2 infection ranges from asymptomatic to severe with lingering symptomatology in some. This prompted investigation of whether or not asymptomatic disease results in measurable immune activation post-infection. Immune activation following asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection was characterized through a comparative investigation of the immune cell transcriptomes from 43 asymptomatic seropositive and 52 highly exposed seronegative individuals from the same community 4-6 weeks following a superspreading event. Few of the 95 individuals had underlying health issues. One seropositive individual reported Cystic Fibrosis and one individual reported Incontinentia pigmenti. No evidence of immune activation was found in asymptomatic seropositive individuals with the exception of the Cystic Fibrosis patient. There were no statistically significant differences in immune transcriptomes between asymptomatic seropositive and highly exposed seronegative individuals. Four positive controls, mildly symptomatic seropositive individuals whose blood was examined 3 weeks following infection, showed immune activation. Negative controls were four seronegative individuals from neighboring communities without COVID-19. All individuals remained in their usual state of health through a five-month follow-up after sample collection. In summary, whole blood transcriptomes identified individual immune profiles within a community population and showed that asymptomatic infection within a super-spreading event was not associated with enduring immunological activation.

SUBMITTER: Lee HK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7895922 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Immune transcriptomes of highly exposed SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatic seropositive versus seronegative individuals from the Ischgl community.

Lee Hye Kyung HK Knabl Ludwig L Pipperger Lisa L Volland Andre A Furth Priscilla A PA Kang Keunsoo K Smith Harold E HE Knabl Ludwig L Bellmann Romuald R Bernhard Christina C Kaiser Norbert N Gänzer Hannes H Ströhle Mathias M Walser Andreas A von Laer Dorothee D Hennighausen Lothar L

Scientific reports 20210219 1

SARS-CoV-2 infection ranges from asymptomatic to severe with lingering symptomatology in some. This prompted investigation of whether or not asymptomatic disease results in measurable immune activation post-infection. Immune activation following asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection was characterized through a comparative investigation of the immune cell transcriptomes from 43 asymptomatic seropositive and 52 highly exposed seronegative individuals from the same community 4-6 weeks following a super ...[more]

PMID: 33608566

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Project description:Despite tremendous efforts by the international research community to understand the pathophysiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the reasons behind the clinical variability, ranging from asymptomatic infection to lethal disease, are still unclear. Existing inter-individual variations of the immune responses, due to environmental exposures and genetic factors, may be critical to the development or not of symptomatic disease after infection with SARS-CoV-2, and transcriptomic differences marking such responses may be observed even later, after convalescence. Herein, we performed genome-wide transcriptional whole-blood profiling to test the hypothesis that immune response-related gene signatures may differ between healthy individuals with prior entirely asymptomatic versus clinical SARS-CoV-2 infection, all of which developed an equally robust antibody response. Among 12.789 protein-coding genes analyzed, there were only six and nine genes with significantly decreased or increased expression, respectively, in those with prior asymptomatic infection (n=17, mean age 34 years) relatively to those with clinical infection (n=15, mean age 37 years). All six genes with decreased expression (IFIT3, IFI44L, RSAD2, FOLR3, PI3, ALOX15), are involved in innate immune response while the first two are interferon-induced proteins. Among genes with increased expression six are involved in immune response (GZMH, CLEC1B, CLEC12A), viral mRNA translation (GCAT), energy metabolism (CACNA2D2) and oxidative stress response (ENC1). Notably, 8/15 differentially expressed genes are regulated by interferons. Our results suggest that an intrinsically weaker expression of some innate immunityrelated genes may be associated with an asymptomatic disease course in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Whether a certain gene signature predicts, or not, those who will develop a more efficient immune response upon exposure to SARS-CoV-2, with implications for prioritization for vaccination, warrant further study.

Dataset Information

Immune transcriptomes of highly exposed SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatic seropositive versus seronegative individuals from the Ischgl community.

Publications

Immune transcriptomes of highly exposed SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatic seropositive versus seronegative individuals from the Ischgl community.

Similar Datasets

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