• Aiping Ma, Liang Zhang, Xiaokai Ye, Jing Chen, Jie Yu, Liangjin Zhuang, Chaohang Weng, Frank Petersen, Zhanxiang Wang, and Xinhua Yu.
• Department of Respiratory and Critical Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
• Front Immunol. 2021 Jan 1; 12: 626235.

ObjectivesThe coordinated immune response of the host is the key of the successful combat of the body against SARS-CoV-2 infection and is decisive for the development and progression of COVID-19. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether the immunological phenotype of patients are associated with duration of illness in patients with severe COVID-19.MethodIn this single-center study, 69 patients with severe or critical COVID-19 were recruited retrospectively. Immunological parameters including counts of white blood cells, neutrophils, lymphocytes, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and levels of circulating cytokines and cytokine receptors were screened for their association with disease severity, survival and duration of illness of COVID-19.ResultsOur data confirmed previous results that neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and circulating levels of IL-6 represent prominent biomarker for the prediction of disease severity and survival of COVID-19. However, this study shows for the first time that duration of illness in patients with severe COVID-19 is positively associated with serum levels of IL-8 (P=0.004) and soluble IL-2Rα (P=0.025).ConclusionThe significant association of duration of illness with circulating levels of IL-8 and soluble IL-2Rα in patients with severe COVID-19 implicates that neutrophils and T cells are involved in the evolution of COVID-19.Copyright © 2021 Ma, Zhang, Ye, Chen, Yu, Zhuang, Weng, Petersen, Wang and Yu.

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