AUTHOR=Sfikakis Petros P. , Verrou Kleio-Maria , Ampatziadis-Michailidis Giannis , Tsitsilonis Ourania , Paraskevis Dimitrios , Kastritis Efstathios , Lianidou Evi , Moutsatsou Paraskevi , Terpos Evangelos , Trougakos Ioannis , Chini Vasiliki , Manoloukos Menelaos , Moulos Panagiotis , Pavlopoulos Georgios A. , Kollias George , Hatzis Pantelis , Dimopoulos Meletios A. 

TITLE=Blood Transcriptomes of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibody-Positive Healthy Individuals Who Experienced Asymptomatic Versus Clinical Infection

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.746203

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2021.746203

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p>The reasons behind the clinical variability of SARS-CoV-2 infection, ranging from asymptomatic infection to lethal disease, are still unclear. We performed genome-wide transcriptional whole-blood RNA sequencing, bioinformatics analysis and PCR validation to test the hypothesis that immune response-related gene signatures reflecting baseline may differ between healthy individuals, with an equally robust antibody response, who experienced an entirely asymptomatic (n=17) <italic>versus</italic> clinical SARS-CoV-2 infection (n=15) in the past months (mean of 14 weeks). Among 12.789 protein-coding genes analysed, we identified six and nine genes with significantly decreased or increased expression, respectively, in those with prior asymptomatic infection relatively to those with clinical infection. All six genes with decreased expression (<italic>IFIT3, IFI44L, RSAD2, FOLR3, PI3, ALOX15</italic>), are involved in innate immune response while the first two are interferon-induced proteins. Among genes with increased expression six are involved in immune response (<italic>GZMH, CLEC1B, CLEC12A</italic>), viral mRNA translation (<italic>GCAT</italic>), energy metabolism (<italic>CACNA2D2</italic>) and oxidative stress response (<italic>ENC1</italic>). Notably, 8/15 differentially expressed genes are regulated by interferons. Our results suggest that subtle differences at baseline expression of innate immunity-related genes may be associated with an asymptomatic disease course in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Whether a certain gene signature predicts, or not, those who will develop a more efficient immune response upon exposure to SARS-CoV-2, with implications for prioritization for vaccination, warrant further study.</p>