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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Viral Immunology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1502937

Article Title: "Identification of an immunological signature of Long COVID syndrome"

Provisionally accepted
Gisella Guerrera Gisella Guerrera 1Manolo Sambucci Manolo Sambucci 1Eleonora Timperi Eleonora Timperi 1Mario Picozza Mario Picozza 1Andrea Misiti Andrea Misiti 1,2Roberta Placido Roberta Placido 1Silvia Corbisiero Silvia Corbisiero 1Silvia D'orso Silvia D'orso 1Andrea Termine Andrea Termine 2Carlo Fabrizio Carlo Fabrizio 2Francesca Gargano Francesca Gargano 1Sharon Eleuteri Sharon Eleuteri 1Luisa Marchioni Luisa Marchioni 3Veronica Bordoni Veronica Bordoni 4Luigi Coppola Luigi Coppola 5Marco Iannetta Marco Iannetta 6Chiara Agrati Chiara Agrati 4Giovanna Borsellino Giovanna Borsellino 1*Luca Battistini Luca Battistini 1
  • 1 Neuroimmunology Unit, Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Rome, Italy
  • 2 Data Science Unit, Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Rome, Italy
  • 3 National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani (IRCCS), Rome, Lazio, Italy
  • 4 Unit of Pathogen specific Immunity, Research Area of Hematology and Oncology, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital IRCCS, Rome, Italy
  • 5 Infectious disease Clinic, Policlinico Tor Vergata of Rome, Rome, Italy
  • 6 Department of Systems Medicine, Infectious Disease Clinic, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    To date, immunological markers that aid in classifying Long COVID-19 (LC) patients remain poorly defined in the literature, and no clinically reliable test currently exists for diagnosing LC syndrome. Thus, we conducted an in-depth immunological analysis of LC patients, in search of biomarkers useful for diagnosis. Through functional assays and immunophenotyping with high-parameter flow cytometry, we compared the immunological profiles of LC patients with those of COVID-19 patients, individuals recovered from COVID-19, and healthy donors.Our study identified a distinctive set of immunological markers, including activation markers from both adaptive and innate immune cells, which could serve as potential candidates for incorporation into clinical tests to improve the diagnosis of LC syndrome. The findings of our study align closely with the objectives of the "Viral Immunity" section of Frontiers in Immunology, particularly given its emphasis on advancing our understanding of the long-term consequences of COVID-19 infection. Furthermore, our work complements existing studies on acute COVID-19, which have been a key focus of this journal section thus far.

    Keywords: Long COVID 1, SARS-CoV2 infection 2, COVID-19 3, innate immune cells 4, adaptive immune cells 5

    Received: 27 Sep 2024; Accepted: 16 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Guerrera, Sambucci, Timperi, Picozza, Misiti, Placido, Corbisiero, D'orso, Termine, Fabrizio, Gargano, Eleuteri, Marchioni, Bordoni, Coppola, Iannetta, Agrati, Borsellino and Battistini. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Giovanna Borsellino, Neuroimmunology Unit, Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Rome, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.