Table 1.
Alterations of innate and adoptive immune cells in mild to severe stages of COVID-19 infection.
| Study | No. of patients | Disease stage | Overall changes of innate immune cells in COVID-19 patients | Overall changes of adoptive immune cells in COVID-19 patients | Comparison of immune cell alteration in severe vs. mild stages | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huang et al. | 41 | ICU: 13 Non-ICU: 28 |
– | ↓ Lymphocyte (26/41) | ↑ Neutrophil ↑ Lymphocytes | [11] |
| Qin et al. | 452 | Severe: 286 Non-severe: 166 |
↓ NK cell | ↑ B cells ↑ T helper cells ↑ T suppressor cells ↑ Treg cells | ↑ Neutrophils ↑ NLR ↓ Lymphocytes; Monocytes, Eosinophils, NK cells; Basophils; Th cell; Treg cells | [123] |
| Chen et al. | 21 | Mild: 10 Severe: 11 |
↓ NK cell (8/14) | ↑ B cells (7/14) ↓ Lymphocyte (9/21) ↓ Total T cells (13/14) ↓ T CD4+ cells (12/14) ↓ T CD8+ cells (14/14) | ↑ Neutrophil ↓ Lymphocyte ↓ B cells ↓ T CD4+ cells ↓ T CD8+ cells | [77] |
| Liu et al. | 40 | Mild: 27 Severe: 13 |
– | ↓ Lymphocyte | ↑ Neutrophils ↓ Lymphocyte ↓ CD3+ T cells ↓ CD8+ T cells | [16] |
| Diao et al. | 262 | Mild: 151 Severe: 40 Critical: 13, 8 Perished: 8 Control: 40 |
– | ↑PD1+ CD4+ T cells; PD1+ CD8+ T cells ↓Total T cells (166/222); CD4+ T cells (166/222); CD8+ T cells (156/222) | ↑ PD1+ CD4+ T cells ↑ PD1+ CD8+ T cells ↓ Total T cells ↓ CD4+ T cells ↓ CD8+ T cells | [124] |
| Liu et al. | 80 | Severe: 69 Non-severe: 11 |
– | ↓ Lymphocyte (60/80) | ↑ Neutrophils ↑ NK cells ↓ Lymphocytes | [125] |
| Chen et al. | 29 | Mild: 15 Severe: 9 Critical: 5 |
– | ↓ Lymphocyte (20/29) | No difference | [126] |
| Wang et al. | 69 | sPO2 ≥ 90%: 55 sPO2 < 90%: 14 |
↑ Neutrophil (41/67) ↑ Basophil (49/69) |
↓ lymphocyte (29/69) | ↑ Neutrophil ↓ Lymphocytes |
[127] |
| Wang et al. | 138 | ICU P: 36 Non-ICU: 102 |
– | ↓ lymphocyte | ↑ Neutrophil ↓ Lymphocytes |
[27] |
| Ouyang et al. | 11 | Mild: 5 Severe: 6 |
↑ Neutrophil | ↓ Lymphocyte | ↑ Neutrophil | [128] |
| Li et al. | 548 | Severe: 269 Non-severe: 279 |
↑ Neutrophil (118/542) | ↓ Lymphocytes (118/542) | ↑ Neutrophil ↓ Lymphocytes |
[129] |
| Wan et al. | 123 | Mild: 102 Severe: 21 |
↓ NK cell (45/123) | ↓ CD4+ T cells (74/123) ↓ CD8+ T cells (42/123) ↓ B cells (32/123) | ↓ CD4+ T cells ↓ CD8+ T cells |
[130] |
| Shi et al. | 56 | Mild:31 Severe: 25 |
↑ Neutrophils ↑ NLR ↓ NK cell |
↑ Treg cells ↓ CD4+ T cells ↓ CD8+ T cells ↓ B cells |
↑ Neutrophil ↓ Lymphocytes |
[82] |
| Zheng et al. | 16 | Mild: 10 Severe: 6 |
– | ↓ T cells | ↑ TIGIT+CD8+ T cells ↓ Granulocytes; CD4+ T cells |
[42] |
| Yang et al. | 53 | Mild: 19 Severe: 34 |
– | ↓ CD4+ T cells ↓ CD8+ T cells |
↑ Neutrophil ↓ CD4+ T cells ↓ CD8+ T cells |
[106] |
| Gong et al. | 100 | Mild: 34 Severe: 34 Critical: 32 |
↓ Eosinophils | – | ↑ Neutrophils ↓ Eosinophils ↓ Lymphocytes |
[133] |
| Chen et al. | 48 | Mild: 21 Severe: 10 Critical: 17 |
– | ↓ Lymphocytes | ↑ Neutrophils ↓ Lymphocytes |
[134] |
| Qi et al. | 267 | Severe: 50 Non-severe: 217 |
– | ↓ Lymphocytes (231/267) ↓ CD3+ T cells (51/96) ↓ CD4+ T cells (74/96) |
↑ Neutrophils ↓ CD3+ T cells ↓ CD4+ T cells |
[135] |
| Li et al. | 110 | Mild: 57 Severe: 39 Critical: 14 |
– | ↓ CD4+ T cells ↓ CD8+ T cells |
↓ CD4+ T cells ↓ CD8+ T cells |
[136] |
| Xu et al. | 155 | Mild: 125 Severe: 30 |
– | ↓ CD4+ T cells ↓ CD8+ T cells |
↓ CD4+ T cells ↓ CD8+ T cells |
[137] |
| Zhou et al. | 43 | ICU: 12 Non-ICU: 21 Control: 10 |
↑CD14 + CD16+ monocytes; GM-CSF+ CD14+ monocytes |
↑ Tim-PD-1-CD4+ T cells ↑ Tim-PD-1- CD8+ T cells ↑ GM-CSF-CD4+ T cells ↑ IL6-CD4+ T cells ↓ CD4 T+ cells ↓ CD8+ T cells |
↑ Tim-PD-1-CD4+ T cells ↑ IFNγ-GM-CSF-CD4+ T cells ↑ GM-CSF-CD4+ T cells ↑ IL-6-CD4+ T cells ↑ CD14-CD16+ Monocytes ↑ GM-CSF-CD14 + Monocytes ↑ IL-6 + CD14+ Monocytes ↓ CD8+ T cells |
[138] |
Abbreviations: COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; N, number of cases; ICU, intensive care unit; NK, natural killer; Th, T helper cell; Treg, regulatory T cells; SpO2, blood oxygen saturation; NLR, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; PD-1, programmed cell death 1; Tim, T cell Ig and mucin domain; TIGIT, T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain; GM-CSF; Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor; IFN-γ, Interferon gamma; IL, Interleukin.