Low levels of CIITA and high levels of SOCS1 predict COVID-19 disease severity in children and adults
Mònica Girona-Alarcon,
Guillermo Argüello,
Ana Esteve-Sole,
Sara Bobillo-Perez,
Xavier Paolo Burgos-Artizzu,
Elisenda Bonet-Carne,
Anna Mensa-Vilaró,
Anna Codina,
María Hernández-Garcia,
Cristina Jou,
Laia Alsina,
Iolanda Jordan
Affiliations
Mònica Girona-Alarcon
Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Passeig Sant Joan de Déu Number 2, Esplugues de Llobregat, 08950 Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Esplugues de Llobregat, 08950 Barcelona, Spain
Guillermo Argüello
Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, 08018 Barcelona, Spain; Statistics and Operations Research, Universidad de Oviedo, 33003 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
Ana Esteve-Sole
Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Esplugues de Llobregat, 08950 Barcelona, Spain; Allergy and Clinical Immunology Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Passeig Sant Joan de Déu Number 2, Esplugues de Llobregat, 08950 Barcelona, Spain; Clinical Immunology Unit, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu-Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Esplugues de Llobregat, 08950 Barcelona, Spain
Sara Bobillo-Perez
Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Passeig Sant Joan de Déu Number 2, Esplugues de Llobregat, 08950 Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Esplugues de Llobregat, 08950 Barcelona, Spain
Xavier Paolo Burgos-Artizzu
Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, 08018 Barcelona, Spain; BCNatal|Fetal Medicine Research Center, Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Elisenda Bonet-Carne
Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, 08018 Barcelona, Spain; BCNatal|Fetal Medicine Research Center, Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; BCNatal Fetal Medicine Research Group, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), 08036 Barcelona, Spain; ETSETB, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya • BarcelonaTech, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
Anna Mensa-Vilaró
Clinical Immunology Unit, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu-Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Esplugues de Llobregat, 08950 Barcelona, Spain; BCNatal Fetal Medicine Research Group, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), 08036 Barcelona, Spain
Anna Codina
Pediatric Biobank Unit, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, 08950 Barcelona, Spain
María Hernández-Garcia
Paediatric Service, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Esplugues de Llobregat, 08950 Barcelona, Spain
Cristina Jou
Department of Pathology and Biobank, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, 08950 Barcelona, Spain; Biomedical Network Research Centre on Rare Diseases (CIBERER), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
Laia Alsina
Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Esplugues de Llobregat, 08950 Barcelona, Spain; Allergy and Clinical Immunology Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Passeig Sant Joan de Déu Number 2, Esplugues de Llobregat, 08950 Barcelona, Spain; Clinical Immunology Unit, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu-Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Esplugues de Llobregat, 08950 Barcelona, Spain; Paediatrics Department, Universitat de Barcelona, 08007 Barcelona, Spain; Corresponding author
Iolanda Jordan
Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Passeig Sant Joan de Déu Number 2, Esplugues de Llobregat, 08950 Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Esplugues de Llobregat, 08950 Barcelona, Spain; Paediatrics Department, Universitat de Barcelona, 08007 Barcelona, Spain; Corresponding author
Summary: It is unclear why COVID-19 ranges from asymptomatic to severe. When SARS-CoV-2 is detected, interferon (IFN) response is activated. When it is insufficient or delayed, it might lead to overproduction of cytokines and severe COVID-19. The aim was to compare cytokine and IFN patterns in children and adults with differing severity with SARS-CoV-2.It was a prospective, observational study, including 84 patients. Patients with moderate/severe disease had higher cytokines' values than patients with mild disease (p< 0.001).Two IFN genes were selected to build a decision tree for severity classification: SOCS1 (representative of the rest of the IFN genes) and CIITA (inverse correlation). Low values of CIITA and high values of SOCS1 indicated severe disease. This method correctly classified 33/38(86.8%) of children and 27/34 (79.4%) of adults.To conclude, patients with severe disease had an elevated cytokine pattern, which correlated with the IFN response, with low CIITA and high SOCS1 values.
