Dominant extrafollicular B cell responses in severe COVID-19 disease correlate with robust viral-specific antibody production but poor clinical outcomes
Abstract
A wide clinical spectrum has become a hallmark of theSARS-CoV-2(COVID-19) pandemic, although its immunologic underpinnings remain to be defined. We have performed deep characterization of B cell responses through high-dimensional flow cytometry to reveal substantial heterogeneity in both effector and immature populations. More notably, critically ill patients displayed hallmarks of extrafollicular B cell activation as previously described in autoimmune settings. Extrafollicular activation correlated strongly with large antibody secreting cell expansion and early production of high levels ofSARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies. Yet, these patients fared poorly with elevated inflammatory biomarkers, multi-organ failure, and death. Combined, the findings strongly indicate a major pathogenic role for immune activation in subsets of COVID-19 patients. Our study suggests that, as in autoimmunity, targeted immunomodulatory therapy may be beneficial in specific patient subpopulations that can be identified by careful immune profiling.
Related articles
Related articles are currently not available for this article.