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. 2022 Jul 16;20:106. doi: 10.1186/s12964-022-00903-6

Table 2.

Immunological features of COVID-19 patients and healthy controls

Parameter G1 (N = 50)
Median
(Min–Max)		 G2 (N = 50)
Median
(Min–Max)		 G3 (N = 50)
Median
(Min–Max)		 Significance Level
G1 vs. G2 G1 vs. G3 G2 vs. G3
Flowcytometry
CD4 + T Lymphocytes (count/μl)

917.5

(380–1900)

465

(155–1230)

347.5

(65–890)

  < 0.0001  < 0.0001 0.0008
CD8 + T Lymphocytes (count/μl)

490

(150–1100)

285

(110–720)

186.0

(25–500)

  < 0.0001  < 0.0001 0.0002
B Lymphocytes (count/μl)

302.5

(80–550)

246.5

(40–450)

172.5

(10–400)

 0.0004  < 0.0001 0.0127
NK Cells (count/μl)

340

(120–900)

162.5

(40–450)

109

(10–350)

  < 0.0001  < 0.0001 0.0069
G1 mean ± SD (N = 50) G2 mean ± SD (N = 50) G3 mean ± SD (N = 50)
CD4 + T Lymphocytes (%) 42.54 ± 7.308 40.93 ± 7.131 39.31 ± 9.149 NS NS NS
CD8 + T Lymphocytes (%) 24.71 ± 7.741 22.70 ± 7.914 23.18 ± 8.236 NS NS NS
B Lymphocytes (%) 12.23 ± 2.406 9.694 ± 2.340 9.136 ± 3.201  < 0.0001  < 0.0001 NS
NK Cells (%) 15.17 ± 7.504 12.81 ± 8.205 12.87 ± 7.538 NS NS NS
Treg Cells (%) 4.524 ± 1.967 3.458 ± 1.595 2.648 ± 1.489 0.0111  < 0.0001 0.0298
Th17 Cells (%) 3.512 ± 1.621 4.668 ± 2.254 6.044 ± 2.598 0.0123  < 0.0001 0.0169
Relative Gene Expression (Fold Change)
IFN-α 1.000 ± 0.09112 0.8592 ± 0.3361 0.5844 ± 0.3282 0.0177  < 0.0001 0.0002
IFN-β 1.000 ± 0.1020 0.8094 ± 0.4074 0.6324 ± 0.2801 0.0066  < 0.0001 0.0388
JAK-1 1.000 ± 0.08152 0.9100 ± 0.2939 0.7220 ± 0.4729 NS 0.0004 NS
TYK-2 1.000 ± 0.07461 0.8752 ± 0.2590 0.5518 ± 0.4402 0.0054  < 0.0001  < 0.0001
STAT-1 1.000 ± 0.07835 0.8892 ± 0.3473 0.6892 ± 0.5016 NS 0.0002 NS
STAT-2 1.000 ± 0.05379 0.7664 ± 0.2876 0.5234 ± 0.3018  < 0.0001  < 0.0001 0.0002
IRF-3 1.000 ± 0.06862 0.7036 ± 0.3234 0.5492 ± 0.2803  < 0.0001  < 0.0001 0.0364
IRF-7 1.000 ± 0.1209 0.7684 ± 0.4125 0.5644 ± 0.3296 0.0010  < 0.0001 0.0224
Western Blotting (%)
STAT-1 63.56 ± 23.78 57.96 ± 33.92 43.76 ± 26.14 NS 0.0004 NS
STAT-2 74.64 ± 17.53 54.76 ± 22.68 40.94 ± 31.20  < 0.0001  < 0.0001 0.0385
JAK-1 65.82 ± 21.38 59.74 ± 32.22 44.46 ± 15.64 NS  < 0.0001 0.0106
TYK-2 69.68 ± 17.56 60.14 ± 37.22 41.92 ± 21.65 NS  < 0.0001 0.0110
pSTAT-1 62.14 ± 21.46 47.96 ± 23.02 37.54 ± 17.56 0.0058  < 0.0001 0.0372
pSTAT-2 66.24 ± 16.49 52.2 ± 21 39.44 ± 21.34 0.0010  < 0.0001 0.0098
pJAK-1 62.42 ± 19.25 50.18 ± 21.96 40.1 ± 15.59 0.0114  < 0.0001 0.0285
pTYK-2 63.14 ± 17.05 52.3 ± 21.58 38.74 ± 19.46 0.0192  < 0.0001 0.0041
IRF-3 70.20 ± 26.63 53.74 ± 22.76 36.62 ± 22.01 0.0038  < 0.0001 0.0007
IRF-7 73.56 ± 30.15 54.72 ± 33.04 30.66 ± 14.75 0.0109  < 0.0001  < 0.0001
Enzyme-Linked Immunosurbent Assay (ELISA)
IFN-α (pg/ml) 26.63 ± 19.02 15.45 ± 13.92 11.13 ± 9.518 0.0035  < 0.0001 NS
IFN-β (pg/ml) 6.116 ± 4.259 3.194 ± 1.492 2.582 ± 1.243  < 0.0001  < 0.0001 NS
IL-1β (pg/ml) 7.984 ± 4.239 12.63 ± 7.090 20.20 ± 13.94 0.0005  < 0.0001 0.0031
IL-6 (pg/ml) 7.467 ± 2.995 13.26 ± 9.594 33.07 ± 37.88 0.0004  < 0.0001 0.0021
TNF-α (pg/ml) 3.682 ± 1.549 10.99 ± 13.45 27.90 ± 29.71 0.0011  < 0.0001 0.0015
IL-2R (U/ml) 467.2 ± 200.9 618.5 ± 212.8 943.2 ± 326.0 0.0012  < 0.0001  < 0.0001
IL-17 (pg/ml) 11.55 ± 5.716 16.34 ± 7.485 21.28 ± 9.411 0.0016  < 0.0001 0.0137
IL-10 (pg/ml) 5.482 ± 1.556 5.624 ± 3.142 10.41 ± 7.814 NS 0.0002 0.0005
IFN-α auto-antibody positive cases 0 2 14 NS  < 0.0001 0.001

Data are presented as mean ± SD

p < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant

G1: Healthy Controls; G2: Patients with mild symptoms; G3: Patients with severe symptoms; NK Cells: Natural killer cells; Treg Cells: Regulatory T lymphocytes; Th17 Cells: T helper 17 lymphocytes; IFNs: interferons; JAK-1: Janus kinase 1; TYK-2: Tyrosine kinase 2; STATs: Signal transducer and activator of transcriptions; IRFs: The transcription factor interferon regulatory factors; ILs: Interleukins; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor alpha; IL-2R: Interleukin 2 receptor