Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Feb 22;59(7):1315-1322.
doi: 10.1515/cclm-2020-1801. Print 2021 Jun 25.

A low level of CD16pos monocytes in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients is a marker of severity

Marc Vasse  1   2 , Benjamin Zuber  3 , Laurie Goubeau  1 , Marie-Christine Ballester  4 , Mathilde Roumier  5 , Frédérique Delcominette  1 , Florence Habarou  1 , Emilie Jolly  1 , Felix Ackermann  5 , Charles Cerf  3 , Eric Farfour  1 , Tiffany Pascreau  1   2 ; SARS-CoV-2 Foch Hospital Study Group
Affiliations
Free article

A low level of CD16pos monocytes in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients is a marker of severity

Marc Vasse et al. Clin Chem Lab Med. .
Free article

Abstract

Objectives: Severe forms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are characterized by an excessive production of inflammatory cytokines. Activated monocytes secrete high levels of cytokines. Human monocytes are divided into three major populations: conventional (CD14posCD16neg), non-classical (CD14dimCD16pos), and intermediate (CD14posCD16pos) monocytes. The aim of this study was to analyze whether the distribution of conventional (CD16neg) and CD16pos monocytes is different in patients with COVID-19 and whether the variations could be predictive of the outcome of the disease.

Methods: We performed a prospective study on 390 consecutive patients referred to the Emergency Unit, with a proven diagnosis of SARS-CoV 2 infection by RT-PCR. Using the CytoDiff™ reagent, an automated routine leukocyte differential, we quantified CD16neg and CD16pos monocytes.

Results: In the entire population, median CD16neg and CD16pos monocyte levels (0.398 and 0.054×109/L, respectively) were in the normal range [(0.3-0.7×109/L) and (0.015-0.065×109/L), respectively], but the 35 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) had a significantly (p<0.001) lower CD16pos monocyte count (0.018 × 109/L) in comparison to the 70 patients who were discharged (0.064 × 109/L) or were hospitalized in conventional units (0.058 × 109/L). By ROC curve analysis, the ratio [absolute neutrophil count/CD16pos monocyte count] was highly discriminant to identify patients requiring ICU hospitalization: with a cut-off 193.1, the sensitivity and the specificity were 74.3 and 81.8%, respectively (area under the curve=0.817).

Conclusions: Quantification of CD16pos monocytes and the ratio [absolute neutrophil count/CD16pos monocyte count] could constitute a marker of the severity of disease in COVID-19 patients.

Keywords: CD16posmonocytes; COVID-19; intensive care unit.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Chen, N, Zhou, M, Dong, X, Qu, J, Gong, F, Han, Y, et al.. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study. Lancet 2020;395:507–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30211-7.
    1. Guan, WJ, Ni, ZY, Hu, Y, Liang, WH, Ou, CQ, He, JX, et al.. Clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 in China. N Engl J Med 2020;382:1708–20. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa2002032.
    1. Feng, Y, Ling, Y, Bai, T, Xie, Y, Huang, J, Li, J, et al.. COVID-19 with different severities: a multicenter study of clinical features. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2020;201:1380–8. https://doi.org/10.1164/rccm.202002-0445oc.
    1. Mehta, P, McAuley, DF, Brown, M, Sanchez, E, Tattersall, RS, Manson, JJ, et al.. COVID-19: consider cytokine storm syndromes and immunosuppression. Lancet 2020;395:1033–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30628-0.
    1. Huang, C, Wang, Y, Li, X, Ren, L, Zhao, J, Hu, Y, et al.. Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. Lancet 2020;395:497–506. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30183-5.

LinkOut - more resources