Elevated plasma levels of CXCL16 in severe COVID-19 patients. (April 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Smieszek, Sandra P.; Polymeropoulos, Vasilios M.; Polymeropoulos, Christos M.; Przychodzen, Bartlomiej P.; Birznieks, Gunther; Polymeropoulos, Mihael H.
• Is Part Of: Cytokine. Volume 152(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-04
• Subjects: CXCL16 -- CXCR6 -- COVID-19 -- Lung infection -- Whole genome sequencing; Cytokines -- Periodicals; 571.844
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cyto.2022.155810
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1043-4666

Abstract

Abstract: Genome-wide association studies have recently identified 3p21.31, with lead variant pointing to the CXCR6 gene, as the strongest thus far reported susceptibility risk locus for severe manifestation of COVID-19. In order the determine its role, we measured plasma levels of Chemokine (C‐X‐C motif) ligand 16 (CXCL16) in the plasma of COVID-19 hospitalized patients. CXCL16 interacts with CXCR6 promoting chemotaxis or cell adhesion. The CXCR6/CXCL16 axis mediates homing of T cells to the lungs in disease and hyper-expression is associated with localised cellular injury. To characterize the CXCR6/CXCL16 axis in the pathogenesis of severe COVID-19, plasma concentrations of CXCL16 collected at baseline from 115 hospitalized COVID-19 patients participating in ODYSSEY COVID-19 clinical trial were assessed together with a set of controls. We report elevated levels of CXCL16 in a cohort of COVID-19 hospitalized patients. Specifically, we report significant elevation of CXCL16 plasma levels in association with severity of COVID-19 (as defined by WHO scale) ( P -value < 0.02). Our current study is the largest thus far study reporting CXCL16 levels in COVID-19 hospitalized patients (with whole-genome sequencing data available). The results further support the significant role of the CXCR6/CXCL16 axis in the immunopathogenesis of severe COVID-19 and warrants further studies to understand which patients would benefit most from targeted treatments.