Cytomegalovirus Latent Infection is Associated with an Increased Risk of COVID-19-Related Hospitalization. (2nd February 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Alanio, Cécile; Verma, Anurag; Mathew, Divij; Gouma, Sigrid; Liang, Guanxiang; Dunn, Thomas; Oldridge, Derek A; Weaver, JoEllen; Kuri-Cervantes, Leticia; Pampena, M Betina; Betts, Michael R; Collman, Ronald G; Bushman, Frederic D; Meyer, Nuala J; Hensley, Scott E; Rader, Daniel; Wherry, E John
• Is Part Of: Journal of infectious diseases. Volume 226:Number 3(2022)
• Page Start: 463
• Page End: 473
• Publication Date: 2022-02-02
• Subjects: CMV -- COVID-19 -- risk factor -- immune profiling -- EMRA T cells; Communicable diseases -- Periodicals; Diseases -- Causes and theories of causation -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Communicable Diseases -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 616.9
• DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiac020
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-1899

Abstract

Abstract: Some risk factors for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been identified, including age, race, and obesity. However, 20%–50% of severe cases occur in the absence of these factors. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a herpesvirus that infects about 50% of all individuals worldwide and is among the most significant nongenetic determinants of immune system. We hypothesized that latent CMV infection might influence the severity of COVID-19. Our analyses demonstrate that CMV seropositivity is associated with more than twice the risk of hospitalization due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Immune profiling of blood and CMV DNA quantitative polymerase chain reaction in a subset of patients for whom respiratory tract samples were available revealed altered T-cell activation profiles in absence of extensive CMV replication in the upper respiratory tract. These data suggest a potential role for CMV-driven immune perturbations in affecting the outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection and may have implications for the discrepancies in COVID-19 severity between different human populations. Abstract : Of severe cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), 20%–50% occur in the absence of identified factors. We demonstrated that cytomegalovirus seropositivity is associated with more than twice the risk of hospitalization due to COVID-19, possibly through systemic immune perturbation.