Evaluation of Myeloid-derived Suppressor Cells in the Blood of Iranian COVID-19 Patients

  1. Esmaeil Mortaz
  2. Mehrnaz Movassaghi
  3. Ali Bassir
  4. Neda K. Dezfuli
  5. Neda Dalil Roofchayee
  6. Hamidreza Jamaati
  7. Johan Garssen
  8. Ian M. Adcock

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Abstract

The cytokine storm and lymphopenia are reported in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Myeloid-derived suppressive cells (MDSCs) exist in two different forms, granulocyte (G-MDSCs) and monocytic (M-MDSCs), that both suppress T-cell function. In COVID-19, the role of chemokines such as interleukin (IL)-8 in recruiting MDSCs is unclear. A recent report has correlated IL-8 and MDSCs with poor clinical outcomes in melanoma patients. In the current study, we evaluated the frequency of MDSCs and their correlation with serum IL-8 levels in severe COVID-19 patients from Iran. Thirty-seven severe patients (8 on ventilation, 29 without ventilation), thirteen moderate COVID-19 patients, and eight healthy subjects participated in this study between 10th April 2020 and 9th March 2021. Clinical and biochemical features, serum, and whole blood were obtained. CD14, CD15, CD11b, and HLA-DR expression on MDSCs was measured by flow cytometry. COVID-19 patients compared to healthy subjects had a greater frequency of M-MDSCs (12.7±13.3% vs 0.19±0.20%,), G-MDSCs (15.8±12.6% vs 0.35±0.40%,) and total-MDSCs (27.5±17.3% vs 0.55±0.41%,). M-MDSC (16.8±15.8% vs 5.4±4.8%,) and total-MDSC (33.3±18.5% vs 17.3±13.3%) frequency was higher in non- ventilated compared to moderate COVID-19 subjects. Serum IL-8 levels were higher in patients with COVID-19 than in normal healthy subjects (6.4±7.8 vs. 0.10±00 pg/mL). Ventilated patients (15.7±6.7 pg/mL), non-ventilated patients (5.7±2.7 pg/mL) and moderate patients (2.8±3.0 pg/mL) had significantly different levels of IL-8. A negative correlation was found between the frequency of G-MDSCs and the international normalized ratio (INR) test (r=-0.39), and between the frequency of total-MDSCs and oxygen saturation (%) (r=-0.39). COVID-19 patients with severe non-ventilated disease had the highest levels of M-MDSCs. In addition to systemic MDSCs, lung, serum IL-8, and other inflammatory biomarkers should be measured.

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  1. Version published to 10.18502/ijaai.v21i4.10294
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.07.07.21260141: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    EthicsIRB: This study was approved by the institutional ethics board of Masih Daneshvari Hospital ethical committee (IR.SBMU.NRITLD.REC.1399.122).
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Statistical analysis: Analysis of data was performed using the SPSS program version 16.0 (SPSS, Inc. Chicago, USA) and Graph Pad Prism software (version 6; 07 Graph Pad Software, Inc.).
    SPSS
    suggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)
    Graph Pad Prism
    suggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No funding statement was detected.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.07.07.21260141v1 on medRxiv