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199582

Frequency of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in peripheral blood of pediatric patients with SARS CoV-2 Infection: a pilot study

Article

Last updated: 03 Jan 2025

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Abstract

Background: Cytokine storm has been observed in some patients with SARS-CoV-2 due to excessive pro-inflammatory response. Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a distinct population of CD4+ lymphocytes identified by their expression of transcription factor forkhead homeobox protein-3 (Foxp3). These cells down-regulate immune responses in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Objective: This pilot study was aimed to investigate the levels of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs in children with SARS-CoV-2. Methods: frequency of Tregs was measured by flow cytometry in 20 patients with SARS-CoV-2, 6 months to 15 years old; 6 had COVID-19 and 14 had multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS–C). They were compared to 20 age- and sex-matched healthy children as a control group. Results: There was no significant difference between patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and healthy control children in the frequency of Tregs (P=0.068). Decreased numbers of Tregs were found in only 10% of SARS-CoV-2 patients. Patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 were comparable to those with the moderate disease in terms of Tregs' levels. The frequency of Tregs correlated negatively with neutrophil counts in our series (p=0.036). Attempts of correlation with other inflammatory markers of SARS-CoV-2 were insignificant. Conclusion: Decreased levels of Tregs were found in only 10% of our SARS-CoV-2 infected children. The frequency did not correlate with the disease severity or levels of routine inflammatory markers of SARS-CoV-2. Thus, Tregs expression does not seem to have a role in the up-regulated immune response seen in moderate and severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our conclusions are limited by the sample size.

DOI

10.21608/ejpa.2021.199582

Keywords

CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs, COVID-19, MIS–C, SARS-CoV-2

Authors

First Name

Gehan

Last Name

Mostafa

MiddleName

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Affiliation

Professor of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University

Email

gehan.mostafa2000@yahoo.com

City

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Orcid

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First Name

Hanan

Last Name

Ibrahim

MiddleName

M.

Affiliation

Pediatric ICU, Ain Shams University

Email

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City

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Orcid

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First Name

Yasmin

Last Name

El-Gendy

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

Email

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City

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Orcid

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First Name

Mohammed

Last Name

Hamza

MiddleName

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Affiliation

Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

Email

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City

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Orcid

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First Name

Mary

Last Name

Isak

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo

Email

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City

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Orcid

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First Name

Ghada

Last Name

Shousha

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

The Pediatric Allergy and Immunology Unit, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

Email

gh.a.haliem@hotmail.com

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

19

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

28145

Issue Date

2021-10-01

Receive Date

2021-09-02

Publish Date

2021-10-07

Page Start

79

Page End

88

Print ISSN

1687-1642

Online ISSN

2314-8934

Link

https://ejpai.journals.ekb.eg/article_199582.html

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https://ejpai.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=199582

Order

5

Type

Original Article

Type Code

643

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

The Egyptian Journal of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology

Publication Link

https://ejpai.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Frequency of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in peripheral blood of pediatric patients with SARS CoV-2 Infection: a pilot study

Details

Type

Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023