Type I and III interferons are good markers to monitor COVID-19 pathophysiology

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused millions of deaths and has resulted in disastrous societal and economic impacts worldwide. During SARS-CoV-2 infection, abnormal levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines have been observed and were associated to the severity of the disease. Type I (-alpha/beta) and Type III (IFN-lambda) interferons are family members of cytokines that play an important role in fighting viral replication during the early phases of infection. The location and timing of the IFNs production have been shown to be decisive for the COVID-19 outcome. Despite the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and with the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 vari-ants, a better understanding of the involvement of IFNs as players in antiviral immunity in the COVID-19 pathophysiology is necessary to implement additional potent prophylactic and/or therapeutic approaches. In this study, we investigated the role of type I and III IFN in COVID-19 pathophysiology. We first analyzed the IFN-alpha, IFN-beta and IFN-lambda mRNA expression in nasopharyngeal swabs and blood samples from Moroccan patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and secondly correlated these IFNs expressions with COVID-19 clinical and biological parameters. Our results showed that in the upper airways of patients with mild, non-severe, or severe COVID-19 manifestations, the IFN-alpha, -beta and -lambda are expressed in the same manner as in controls. However, in blood samples their expression was downregulated in all groups. Univariate linear models with interferons as predictors to evaluate clinical-biological parameters highlighted that the main clinical-biological relations were found when testing: FiO2, Lymphocyte values and virus load. Furthermore, the multivariate models confirmed that quanti-fications of interferons during COVID-19 are good biological markers for tracking COVID-19 pathophysiology.

Automated summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused devastating impacts globally, with millions of deaths and severe societal and economic consequences. This study investigates the role of interferons (IFNs) in COVID-19 pathophysiology by analyzing the expression of IFN-alpha, IFN-beta, and IFN-lambda in nasopharyngeal swabs and blood samples from SARS-CoV-2 infected patients. The findings suggest that quantification of interferons can serve as valuable biological markers for tracking COVID-19 pathophysiology.