The immunological response among COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome

Abdulaziz S Almutairi; Hassan Abunurah; Abdulkarim Hadi Alanazi; Faraj Alenazi; Hassan Nagy; Nafea Saad Almutairi; Michael Wells; Abdullah Alawam; Mohammed M Alqahtani

doi:10.1016/j.jiph.2021.05.007

The immunological response among COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome

J Infect Public Health. 2021 Jul;14(7):954-959. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2021.05.007. Epub 2021 May 26.

Authors

Abdulaziz S Almutairi¹, Hassan Abunurah², Abdulkarim Hadi Alanazi³, Faraj Alenazi⁴, Hassan Nagy⁵, Nafea Saad Almutairi⁶, Michael Wells⁷, Abdullah Alawam⁸, Mohammed M Alqahtani⁹

Affiliations

¹ Faculty Member at King Saud Abdul-Aziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; School of Biomedical Science, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States; King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: aziiz@uab.edu.
² Faculty Member at King Saud Abdul-Aziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Department of Rehabilitation Science, School of Health Profession, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States; King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: hassan01@uab.edu.
³ Faculty Member at King Saud Abdul-Aziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Faculty Member at King Saud Abdul-Aziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom; King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Fairfax County Health Department, Fairfax, VA, United States.
⁶ University of Imam Muhammed ibn Saud, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), United States.
⁸ Al-Imam Muhammed ibn Saud Islamic University, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Faculty Member at King Saud Abdul-Aziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Department of Rehabilitation Science, School of Health Profession, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States; King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: qahtani4@uab.edu.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) often results in pneumonia and can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). ARDS is one of the most significant causes of death in patients with COVID-19. The development of a "cytokine storm" in patients with COVID-19 causes progression to ARDS. In this scoping review, we investigated the effect of pro-inflammatory cytokines in inducing moderate and severe ARDS outcomes. A comprehensive search was performed using PubMed and Google Scholar to implement a broad query that captured all the relevant studies published between December 2019 and September 2020.We identified seven studies that evaluated the immune response in COVID-19 patients with ARDS. The white blood cell counts (WBCs), CRP, and IL-6 were higher in the moderately presenting ARDS patients, critically ill patients, and those with more severe ARDS. This study may contribute to better patient management and outcomes if tailored immune marker interventions are implemented in the near future.

Keywords: ARDS; COVID-19; Immunological response; cytokines.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Cytokine Release Syndrome
Cytokines
Humans
Respiratory Distress Syndrome*
SARS-CoV-2

Substances

Cytokines