Analysis of peripheral lymphocyte subsets and T-cell exhaustion in SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Analysis of peripheral lymphocyte subsets and T-cell exhaustion in SARS-CoV-2 Infection Introduction: Immune responses against Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) may be highly complex. It has been suggested that T-cell fatigue develops due to continuous stimulation of T-cells by SARS-CoV-2 in Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). It was aimed to assess peripheral lymphocyte subsets and T-cell exhaustion in various clinical courses of the disease in patients diagnosed with COVID-19.materials and methods: This study included 150 patients who were assigned into the "mild-to-moderate disease" group, or "severe disease" group based on their clinical and laboratory characteristics.Peripheral lymphocyte subsets and T-cell exhaustion markers [programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain containing-3 (Tim-3)] were determined in the peripheral blood using flow cytometry.