Cytokine profiles of mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infected and recovered pre-vaccinated individuals residing in Indonesia

Ni Luh Ayu Megasari; Siti Qamariyah Khairunisa; Radita Yuniar Arizandy; I Komang Evan Wijaksana; Citrawati Dyah Kencono Wungu

doi:10.7717/peerj.17257

Cytokine profiles of mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infected and recovered pre-vaccinated individuals residing in Indonesia

PeerJ. 2024 Apr 18:12:e17257. doi: 10.7717/peerj.17257. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Ni Luh Ayu Megasari^{1

2}, Siti Qamariyah Khairunisa¹, Radita Yuniar Arizandy¹, I Komang Evan Wijaksana³, Citrawati Dyah Kencono Wungu^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Tropical Disease, Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia.
² Postgraduate School, Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia.
³ Department of Periodontology, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia.
⁴ Department of Physiology and Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia.

Abstract

Background: Accumulating evidence suggests the involvement of cytokine-mediated inflammation, in clinical severity and death related to SARS-CoV-2 infection, especially among pre-vaccinated individuals. An increased risk of death was also described among SARS-CoV-2 recovered individuals, which might be correlated with prolonged inflammatory responses. Despite being among the countries with the highest cumulative deaths due to COVID-19, evidence regarding cytokine profiles among SARS-CoV-2 infected and recovered pre-vaccinated individuals in Indonesia is scarce. Thus, this study aimed to describe the cytokines profiles of pre-vaccinated individuals residing in Indonesia, with mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection and those who recovered.

Methods: Sixty-one sera from 24 hospitalized patients with mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection, 24 individuals recovered from asymptomatic-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection, and 13 healthy controls unexposed to SARS-CoV-2 were used in this study. Quantification of serum cytokine levels, including IL-6, IL-8, IP-10, TNF-α, CCL-2, CCL-3, CCL-4, and CXCL-13, was performed using a Luminex multi-analyte-profiling (xMAP)-based assay.

Results: The levels of IL-8 along with CCL-2 and CCL-4, were significantly higher (p ≤ 0.01) in hospitalized patients with mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection and recovered individuals compared to healthy controls. However, no significant difference was observed in these cytokine levels between infected and recovered individuals. On the other hand, there were no significant differences in several other cytokine levels, including IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, CCL-3, and CXCL-13, among all groups.

Conclusion: IL-8, CCL-2, and CCL-4 were significantly elevated in pre-vaccinated Indonesian individuals with mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection and those who recovered. The cytokine profiles described in this study might indicate inflammatory responses not only among SARS-CoV-2 infected, but also recovered individuals.

Keywords: COVID-19; Inflammatory cytokines; Mild-to-moderate infection; SARS-CoV-2; Vaccination.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
COVID-19 Vaccines / administration & dosage
COVID-19 Vaccines / immunology
COVID-19* / blood
COVID-19* / epidemiology
COVID-19* / immunology
COVID-19* / prevention & control
Case-Control Studies
Cytokines* / blood
Female
Humans
Indonesia / epidemiology
Male
Middle Aged
SARS-CoV-2* / immunology
Severity of Illness Index
Young Adult

Substances

Cytokines
COVID-19 Vaccines

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the Directorate of Research, Technology and Community Service, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Indonesia, with grant number 823/UN3.15/PT/2022. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.