Lymphopenia News and Research

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Lymphopenia is a condition in which there is a lower-than-normal number of lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) in the blood. Also called lymphocytic leukopenia and lymphocytopenia.

Transplant recipients with COVID-19 may show lower cellular and antibody immune responses

Transplant patients are typically on chronic immunosuppression, making them automatically more vulnerable to infection with SARS-CoV-2, the agent responsible for the loss of over three million lives in the current COVID-19 pandemic. A new study discusses evidence for subnormal immune responses following COVID-19 in this population.

6 May 2021

Aberrant immune features in healthy elderly and male subjects with severe COVID-19 may predate infection

A new study shows that the immunological features of severe COVID-19 are already present in healthy older adults and in men, before they are infected, indicating a possible explanation for this differential susceptibility towards the virus.

6 May 2021

Pregnancy may increase the risk of COVID-19 severity

Against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy has been a subject of much controversy. In order to help answer the question as to whether this infection causes significant harm in pregnancy, a new study, released as a medRxiv* preprint, reports on the disease outcomes of this infection in pregnant women.

5 May 2021

Class I HLA alleles shape CD8+ T cell repertoire in SARS-CoV-2 infection

An interesting new study discusses how adaptive cellular immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 is dependent on differences in HLA-encoding genes between patients.

3 May 2021

Peptide nucleocapsid vaccine candidate elicits protective T cell immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in vivo

A new study describes a synthetic peptide used as a platform to generate protective adaptive cellular immunity to the virus in rhesus macaques, which are the gold standard for preclinical testing in humans.

28 Apr 2021

Striking difference identified between mRNA vaccination vs. SARS-CoV-2 infection immune responses

A team of scientists from the United States has recently compared the immune response elicited by natural severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination. Their findings reveal that, unlike vaccination, natural SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with a robust interferon response together with an induction of cytotoxic gene expression in peripheral blood lymphocytes. The study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

22 Apr 2021

Study demonstrates that the main creators of SARS-CoV-2 mutations are vaccine-suppressed

A new research paper posted to the medRxiv* preprint server describes the changes in genomic sequence observed during the course of infection in a patient on the drug tacrolimus, along with steroids, both potent immunosuppressants, and who also received convalescent plasma treatment. These mutations were observed to occur within three weeks from infection.

14 Apr 2021

Experimental evidence that ADAM17 inhibition prevents severe COVID-19

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus that is contagious in humans. It is the causal agent of the ongoing coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This virus causes a mild to severe infection and has claimed over 2.95 million lives worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 is the successor to SARS-CoV-1, the virus that caused the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak.

13 Apr 2021

Leaky gut and microbial dysbiosis could contribute to cytokine storm in severely ill COVID-19 cases

The gut is a well-established route of infection and target for viral damage by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent for COVID-19. This is supported by the clinical observation that about half of COVID-19 patients exhibit gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms.

8 Apr 2021

Study suggests T-cells don't determine survival in severe COVID-19

In the study, which appeared on the pre-print server medRxiv, the team found that when the monkeys were reinfected, the T cell-depleted animals showed anamnestic immune responses, the enhanced reaction of the body's immune system to an antigen that is related to an antigen previously encountered.

6 Apr 2021

Researchers explore difference in reactions to SARS-CoV-2 infection between children and adults

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed over 2.67 million lives in less than a year and a half. However, it is uncommon in children, with less than 2% of the cases being in individuals below the age of 19. Most of these are of mild severity, with the clinical features of severe COVID-19 being rare in this age group.

17 Mar 2021

COVID-19 is more difficult to diagnose in children and adolescents, finds study

The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has spread to over 192 countries and territories, causing an enormous loss of lives and economic devastation.

17 Mar 2021

Researchers identify new biomarkers associated with severity of COVID-19

A team of researchers from the CHUM Research Centre has identified new biomarkers associated with the severity of COVID-19 in infected patients.

8 Mar 2021

Study identifies immune profile of people with severe COVID-19

A team of researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center, USA, investigated how SARS-CoV-2 affects the immune system’s response during and after infection and contributes to the severity of COVID-19.

22 Feb 2021

What are the changes in the physical phenotype of blood cells in COVID-19?

While primarily a respiratory illness, there are distinctive alterations in the type and number of blood cells in COVID-19. A new study by a team of researchers in Germany describes the nature of these changes.

16 Feb 2021

Hematological findings in Amazonian patients with COVID-19

To discriminate between patients with severe and non-severe COVID-19 quickly, researchers from Peru looked for prognostic signatures in the blood samples of COVID-19 patients. Virgilio E. Failoc-Rojas et al. examined laboratory results and clinical prognosis of COVID-19 patients from a hospital in the Peruvian Amazon.

3 Feb 2021

Insight into role of aging in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine set out to determine the differences between young people and older adults regarding their host responses against SARS-CoV-2. The team revealed that independent of disease severity, COVID-19 was linked to a significant shift in plasma inflammatory factors. The research is posted to the pre-print server medRxiv*.