immunologic profile of severe covid-19 patients in alborz province, iran

Background: the coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) pandemic has prompted researchers to look for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (sars-cov-2) pathogenicity in depth. immune system dysregulation was one of the major mechanisms in its pathogenesis. the evidence regarding the levels of interferons (ifns) and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in covid-19 patients is not well-established. objectives: this study evaluated the expression level of type-i, ii, iii ifns, along with interleukin-1 (il-1), interleukin-6 (il-6), interleukin-10 (il-10), and foxp3 genes in patients with severe covid-19 to provide additional insights regarding the regulation of these cytokines during covid-19 infection. methods: peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from two groups, including severe covid-19 patients and healthy controls. ribonucleic acid was extracted to evaluate the expression level of ifn-a, ifn-b, ifn-g, ifn-la, il-1, il-6, il-10, and foxp3 genes using real-time polymerase chain reaction. the correlations between the expression levels of these genes were also assessed. results: a total of 40 samples were divided into two groups, with each group consisting of 20 samples. when comparing the severe covid-19 group to the controls, the expression levels of ifn-g, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (tnf-α), il-6, and il-10 genes were significantly higher in the severe covid-19 group. the two groups had no significant differences in ifn-a, ifn-b, ifn-la, il-1, and foxp3 expression. the correlation analysis revealed a negative correlation between type i and type iii ifns (i.e., ifn-a and ifn-la) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (i.e., il-1 and il-10). conclusions: this study suggests the possible upregulation of ifn-g, il-6, il-10, and tnf-α during sars-cov-2 pathogenicity. the preliminary findings of this study and those reported previously show that the levels of ifns and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines are not uniformly expressed among all covid-19 patients and might differ as the disease progresses to the severe stage.