Mild Cytokine Elevation, Moderate CD4^+ T Cell Response and Abundant Antibody Production in Children with COVID-19  

作　　者：Ran Jia Xiangshi Wang Pengcheng Liu Xiaozhen Liang Yanling Ge He Tian Hailing Chang Hao Zhou Mei Zeng Jin Xu 

机构地区：[1]Department of Clinical Laboratory,Children’s Hospital of Fudan University,Shanghai 201102,China [2]Department of Infectious Diseases,Children’s Hospital of Fudan University,Shanghai 201102,China [3]Key Laboratory of Molecular Virology&Immunology,Institut Pasteur of Shanghai,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Shanghai 200031,China [4]Shanghai Kehua Bio-Engineering Co.,Ltd.,Shanghai 200233,China

出　　处：《Virologica Sinica》2020年第6期734-743,共10页中国病毒学（英文版）

基　　金：supported by grants specific for Coronavirus Disease 2019 from the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University (Grant No. EKXGZX006)。

摘　　要：Children with Coronavirus Disease 2019(COVID-19) were reported to show milder symptoms and better prognosis than their adult counterparts, but the difference of immune response against SARS-CoV-2 between children and adults hasn’t been reported. Therefore we initiated this study to figure out the features of immune response in children with COVID-19.Sera and whole blood cells from 19 children with COVID-19 during different phases after disease onset were collected.The cytokine concentrations, SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD or N-specific antibodies and T cell immune responses were detected respectively. In children with COVID-19, only 3 of 12 cytokines were increased in acute sera, including interferon(IFN)-cinduced protein 10(IP10), interleukin(IL)-10 and IL-16. We observed an increase in T helper(Th)-2 cells and a suppression in regulatory T cells(Treg) in patients during acute phase, but no significant response was found in the IFN-cproducing or tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-a-producing CD8?T cells in patients. S-RBD and N IgM showed an early induction, while S-RBD and N IgG were prominently induced later in convalescent phase. Potent S-RBD IgA response was observed but N IgA seemed to be inconspicuous. Children with COVID-19 displayed an immunophenotype that is less inflammatory than adults, including unremarkable cytokine elevation, moderate CD4?T cell response and inactive CD8?T cell response, but their humoral immunity against SARS-CoV-2 were as strong as adults. Our finding presented immunological characteristics of children with COVID-19 and might give some clues as to why children develop less severe disease than adults.

关 键 词：COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 CYTOKINE T cell immune response Antibody dynamics 

分 类 号：R725.6[医药卫生—儿科]