Frequency of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in peripheral blood of pediatric patients with SARS CoV-2 Infection: a pilot study
Mostafa, G., Ibrahim, H., El-Gendy, Y., Hamza, M., Isak, M., Shousha, G. (2021). Frequency of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in peripheral blood of pediatric patients with SARS CoV-2 Infection: a pilot study. EKB Journal Management System, 19(2), 79-88. doi: 10.21608/ejpa.2021.199582
Gehan Mostafa; Hanan M. Ibrahim; Yasmin El-Gendy; Mohammed Hamza; Mary Isak; Ghada Shousha. "Frequency of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in peripheral blood of pediatric patients with SARS CoV-2 Infection: a pilot study". EKB Journal Management System, 19, 2, 2021, 79-88. doi: 10.21608/ejpa.2021.199582
Mostafa, G., Ibrahim, H., El-Gendy, Y., Hamza, M., Isak, M., Shousha, G. (2021). 'Frequency of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in peripheral blood of pediatric patients with SARS CoV-2 Infection: a pilot study', EKB Journal Management System, 19(2), pp. 79-88. doi: 10.21608/ejpa.2021.199582
Mostafa, G., Ibrahim, H., El-Gendy, Y., Hamza, M., Isak, M., Shousha, G. Frequency of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in peripheral blood of pediatric patients with SARS CoV-2 Infection: a pilot study. EKB Journal Management System, 2021; 19(2): 79-88. doi: 10.21608/ejpa.2021.199582

Frequency of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in peripheral blood of pediatric patients with SARS CoV-2 Infection: a pilot study

The Egyptian Journal of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
Article 5, Volume 19, Issue 2, October 2021, Page 79-88  XML PDF (372.79 K)
Document Type: Original Article
DOI: 10.21608/ejpa.2021.199582
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Authors
Gehan Mostafa email 1; Hanan M. Ibrahim2; Yasmin El-Gendy3; Mohammed Hamza4; Mary Isak5; Ghada Shousha6
1Professor of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University
2Pediatric ICU, Ain Shams University
3Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
4Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
5Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo
6The Pediatric Allergy and Immunology Unit, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
Abstract
Background: Cytokine storm has been observed in some patients with SARS-CoV-2 due to excessive pro-inflammatory response. Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a distinct population of CD4+ lymphocytes identified by their expression of transcription factor forkhead homeobox protein-3 (Foxp3). These cells down-regulate immune responses in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Objective: This pilot study was aimed to investigate the levels of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs in children with SARS-CoV-2. Methods: frequency of Tregs was measured by flow cytometry in 20 patients with SARS-CoV-2, 6 months to 15 years old; 6 had COVID-19 and 14 had multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS–C). They were compared to 20 age- and sex-matched healthy children as a control group. Results: There was no significant difference between patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and healthy control children in the frequency of Tregs (P=0.068). Decreased numbers of Tregs were found in only 10% of SARS-CoV-2 patients. Patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 were comparable to those with the moderate disease in terms of Tregs’ levels. The frequency of Tregs correlated negatively with neutrophil counts in our series (p=0.036). Attempts of correlation with other inflammatory markers of SARS-CoV-2 were insignificant. Conclusion: Decreased levels of Tregs were found in only 10% of our SARS-CoV-2 infected children. The frequency did not correlate with the disease severity or levels of routine inflammatory markers of SARS-CoV-2. Thus, Tregs expression does not seem to have a role in the up-regulated immune response seen in moderate and severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our conclusions are limited by the sample size.
Keywords
CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs; COVID-19; MIS–C; SARS-CoV-2
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