The dynamic changes and sex differences of 147 immune-related proteins during acute COVID-19 in 580 individuals.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12014-022-09371-z
Authors: Butler-Laporte, Guillaume; Gonzalez-Kozlova, Edgar; Su, Chen-Yang; Zhou, Sirui; Nakanishi, Tomoko; Brunet-Ratnasingham, Elsa; Morrison, David; Laurent, Laetitia; Afilalo, Jonathan; Afilalo, Marc; Henry, Danielle; Chen, Yiheng; Carrasco-Zanini, Julia; Farjoun, Yossi; Pietzner, Maik; Kimchi, Nofar; Afrasiabi, Zaman; Rezk, Nardin; Bouab, Meriem; Petitjean, Louis; Guzman, Charlotte; Xue, Xiaoqing; Tselios, Chris; Vulesevic, Branka; Adeleye, Olumide; Abdullah, Tala; Almamlouk, Noor; Moussa, Yara; DeLuca, Chantal; Duggan, Naomi; Schurr, Erwin; Brassard, Nathalie; Durand, Madeleine; Del Valle, Diane Marie; Thompson, Ryan; Cedillo, Mario A; Schadt, Eric; Nie, Kai; Simons, Nicole W; Mouskas, Konstantinos; Zaki, Nicolas; Patel, Manishkumar; Xie, Hui; Harris, Jocelyn; Marvin, Robert; Cheng, Esther; Tuballes, Kevin; Argueta, Kimberly; Scott, Ieisha; , ; Greenwood, Celia M T; Paterson, Clare; Hinterberg, Michael; Langenberg, Claudia; Forgetta, Vincenzo; Mooser, Vincent; Marron, Thomas; Beckmann, Noam; Kenigsberg, Ephraim; Charney, Alexander W; Kim-Schulze, Seunghee; Merad, Miriam; Kaufmann, Daniel E; Gnjatic, Sacha; Richards, J Brent
Abstract: Severe COVID-19 leads to important changes in circulating immune-related proteins. To date it has been difficult to understand their temporal relationship and identify cytokines that are drivers of severe COVID-19 outcomes and underlie differences in outcomes between sexes. Here, we measured 147 immune-related proteins during acute COVID-19 to investigate these questions. We measured circulating protein abundances using the SOMAscan nucleic acid aptamer panel in two large independent hospital-based COVID-19 cohorts in Canada and the United States. We fit generalized additive models with cubic splines from the start of symptom onset to identify protein levels over the first 14 days of infection which were different between severe cases and controls, adjusting for age and sex. Severe cases were defined as individuals with COVID-19 requiring invasive or non-invasive mechanical respiratory support. Severe COVID-19 is associated with large changes in 69 immune-related proteins. Further, five proteins were associated with sex differences in outcomes. These results provide direct insights into immune-related proteins that are strongly influenced by severe COVID-19 infection.