Autophagy is a homeostatic process responsible for the self-digestion of intracellular components and antimicrobial defense by inducing the degradation of pathogens into autophagolysosomes. Recent findings suggest an involvement of this process in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. However, the role of autophagy in the immunological mechanisms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pathogenesis remains largely unexplored. This study reveals the presence of autophagy defects in peripheral immune cells from COVID-19 patients. The impairment of the autophagy process resulted in a higher percentage of lymphocytes undergoing apoptosis in COVID-19 patients. Moreover, the inverse correlation between autophagy markers levels and peripheral lymphocyte counts in COVID-19 patients confirms how a defect in autophagy might contribute to lymphopenia, causing a reduction in the activation of viral defense. These results provided intriguing data that could help in understanding the cellular underlying mechanisms in COVID-19 infection, especially in severe forms.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; apoptosis; autophagy; inflammation; lymphocytes.
Copyright © 2022 Barbati, Celia, Colasanti, Vomero, Speziali, Putro, Buoncuore, Savino, Colafrancesco, Ucci, Ciancarella, Balbinot, Scarpa, Natalucci, Pellegrino, Ceccarelli, Spinelli, Mastroianni, Conti and Alessandri.