Cytokine Profiling in Different SARS-CoV-2 Genetic Variants

Korobova Z.R. Arsentieva N.A. Liubimova N.E. Batsunov O.K. Dedkov V.G. Gladkikh A.S. Sharova A.A. Adish Z. Chernykh E.I. Kaschenko V.A. Ratnikov V.A. Gorelov V.P. Stanevich O.V. Kulikov A.N. Pevtsov D.E. Totolian A.A.
November 2022 MDPI

International Journal of Molecular Sciences
2022 #23 Issue 22

This study is a successor of our previous work concerning changes in the chemokine profile in infection that are associated with different SARS-CoV-2 genetic variants. The goal of our study was to take into account both the virus and the host immune system by assessing concentrations of cytokines in patients infected with different SARS-CoV-2 variants (ancestral Wuhan strain, Alpha, Delta and Omicron). Our study was performed on 340 biological samples taken from COVID-19 patients and healthy donors in the timespan between May 2020 and April 2022. We performed genotyping of the virus in nasopharyngeal swabs, which was followed by assessment of cytokines’ concentration in blood plasma. We noted that out of nearly 30 cytokines, only four showed stable elevation independently of the variant (IL-6, IL-10, IL-18 and IL-27), and we believe them to be ‘constant’ markers for COVID-19 infection. Cytokines that were studied as potential biomarkers lose their diagnostic value as the virus evolves, and the specter of potential targets for predictive models is narrowing. So far, only four cytokines (IL-6, IL-10, IL-18, and IL-27) showed a consistent rise in concentrations independently of the genetic variant of the virus. Although we believe our findings to be of scientific interest, we still consider them inconclusive; further investigation and comparison of immune responses to different variants of SARS-CoV-2 is required.

COVID-19 , cytokines , multiplex analysis , variants of concern

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Saint Petersburg Pasteur Institute, 14 Ulitsa Mira, Saint Petersburg, 197101, Russian Federation
Intensive Care Unit, Department of Immunology, Department of Infectious Diseases, Pavlov First State Medical University of St. Petersburg, 6–8 Ulitsa L’va Tolstovo, Saint Petersburg, 197022, Russian Federation
Laboratory of Immunochemistry and Immunobiotechnology, National Center for Biotechnology, 13/5, Kurgalzhynskoye Road, Nur-Sultan, 010000, Kazakhstan
The Federal State Budgetary Institution, ‘North-Western District Scientific and Clinical Center Named after L.G. Sokolov Federal Medical and Biological Agency’, Prospekt Kul’tury, 4, Saint Petersburg, 194291, Russian Federation
Department of Faculty Surgery, Saint Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya, 7/9, Saint Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation
Scientific, Clinical and Educational Center “Radiation Diagnostics and Nuclear Medicine” of the Institute of High Medical Technologies, Saint Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya, 7/9, Saint Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation

Saint Petersburg Pasteur Institute
Intensive Care Unit
Laboratory of Immunochemistry and Immunobiotechnology
The Federal State Budgetary Institution
Department of Faculty Surgery
Scientific

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