The percentage of CD39+ monocytes is higher in pregnant COVID-19+ patients than in nonpregnant COVID-19+ patients

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 17; no. 7; p. e0264566
• Main Authors: Cérbulo-Vázquez, A, García-Espinosa, M, Briones-Garduño, J. C, Arriaga-Pizano, L, Ferat-Osorio, E, Zavala-Barrios, B, Cabrera-Rivera, G. L, Miranda-Cruz, P, García de la Rosa, M. T, Prieto-Chávez, J. L, Rivero-Arredondo, V, Madera-Sandoval, R. L, Cruz-Cruz, A, Salazar-Rios, E, Salazar-Rios, M. E, Serrano-Molina, D, De Lira-Barraza, R. C, Villanueva-Compean, A. H, Esquivel-Pineda, A, Ramirez-Montes de Oca, R, Caldiño-Soto, F, Ramírez-García, L. A, Flores-Padilla, G, Moreno-Álvarez, O, Guerrero-Avendaño, G. M. L, López-Macías, C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Francisco Public Library of Science 28.07.2022; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adenosine; Antibodies; Biology and Life Sciences; Cell culture; Chemokines; Cloning; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Cytokines; Damage prevention; Diagnosis; Disease transmission; Fetuses; Health aspects; Histocompatibility antigen HLA; Immune response; Immunological tolerance; Immunology; Infections; Inflammation; Inflammatory response; Interleukin 4; Interleukin 6; Leukocytes; Lipopolysaccharides; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Measurement; Medical research; Medicine and Health Sciences; Monocytes; Mortality; Neutrophils; Patients; Physiology; Population; Pregnancy; Pregnant women; Risk factors; Risk groups; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Statistical analysis; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Viral infections; Mexico; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264566

Current medical guidelines consider pregnant women with COVID-19 to be a high-risk group. Since physiological gestation downregulates the immunological response to maintain “maternal-fetal tolerance”, SARS-CoV-2 infection may constitute a potentially threatening condition to both the mother and the fetus. To establish the immune profile in pregnant COVID-19+ patients, a cross-sectional study was conducted. Pregnant women with COVID-19 (P-COVID-19+; n = 15) were analyzed and compared with nonpregnant women with COVID-19 (NP-COVID-19+; n = 15) or those with physiological pregnancy (P-COVID-19-; n = 13). Serological cytokine and chemokine concentrations, leucocyte immunophenotypes, and mononuclear leucocyte responses to polyclonal stimuli were analyzed in all groups. Higher concentrations of serological TNF-α, IL-6, MIP1b and IL-4 were observed within the P-COVID-19+ group, while cytokines and chemokines secreted by peripheral leucocytes in response to LPS, IL-6 or PMA-ionomicin were similar among the groups. Immunophenotype analysis showed a lower percentage of HLA-DR+ monocytes in P-COVID-19+ than in P-COVID-19- and a higher percentage of CD39+ monocytes in P-COVID-19+ than in NP-COVID-19+. After whole blood polyclonal stimulation, similar percentages of T cells and TNF+ monocytes between groups were observed. Our results suggest that P-COVID-19+ elicits a strong inflammatory response similar to NP-COVID19+ but also displays an anti-inflammatory response that controls the ATP/adenosine balance and prevents hyperinflammatory damage in COVID-19.