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. 2024 Dec 4;12(12):2503.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms12122503.

The Association of Blood Eosinophils and Neutrophils Expressing Eosinophilic Surface Markers with the Severity and Outcome of COVID-19

Jun Wang  1 , Xin Li  1 , Jiaqi Ren  1 , Yafei Rao  1 , Yixian Qiao  1 , Lina Sun  1 , Ying Liang  1 , Chun Chang  1 , Qingtao Zhou  1 , Yongchang Sun  1
Affiliations

The Association of Blood Eosinophils and Neutrophils Expressing Eosinophilic Surface Markers with the Severity and Outcome of COVID-19

Jun Wang et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

(1) Background: The implication of type 2 (T2) inflammatory response in COVID-19 remains controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the association of eosinophils, neutrophils expressing eosinophilic surface markers and T2 cytokines with the severity and outcome of COVID-19. (2) Methods: Patients who were admitted to hospital due to COVID-19 from 18 December 2022 to 31 January 2023 were enrolled. Peripheral blood WBC and differentials, T2 cellular markers (subsets of eosinophils and neutrophils expressing eosinophilic surface markers) and cytokines at admission were measured and compared between subjects with different disease severities and outcomes. (3) Results: Ten mild-to-moderate and 22 severe-to-very severe cases were enrolled for analysis. Of these patients, seven died of severe-to-very severe disease. The severe-to-very severe patients showed a higher number of neutrophils, but lower numbers of eosinophils, lymphocytes cells and neutrophils expressing eosinophilic surface markers. Similarly, deceased cases were also characterized by increased neutrophils, but decreased eosinophils and neutrophils expressing eosinophilic surface markers. The levels of T2 cytokines failed to demonstrate a significant correlation with the severity or outcome of COVID-19. (4) Conclusions: Eosinophils and neutrophils expressing eosinophilic surface markers were associated with milder disease and better outcomes of COVID-19, suggesting that a T2 inflammatory response may confer a potential protective effect against the disease.

Keywords: COVID-19; eosinophilic surface markers; eosinophils; neutrophils.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Proportion of eosinophil subsets according to disease severity. Notes: (a), (b) and (c) represents the natural logarithmic of the CD15−Siglec-8+, CD15−CD193+ and CD15−CD125+ proportion of granulocytes according to disease severity, respectively. Data did not conform to normal distribution and were analyzed using the t-test after natural logarithmic transformation; p < 0.05 is considered significant.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Proportion of neutrophil subsets expressing eosinophilic surface markers according to disease severity. Notes: (a), (b) and (c) represents the natural logarithmic of the CD15+Siglec-8+, CD15+CD193+ and CD15+CD125+ proportion of granulocytes according to disease severity, respectively. Data did not conform to normal distribution and were analyzed using the t-test after natural logarithmic transformation; p < 0.05 is considered significant.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Differential count of neutrophils and eosinophils according to disease outcome. Notes: (a) and (b) represents the differential count of neutrophils and eosinophils according to disease outcome, respectively. Data were analyzed using the t-test; p < 0.05 is considered significant.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Proportion of different eosinophil subsets according to disease outcome. Notes: (a), (b) and (c) represents the natural logarithmic of the CD15−Siglec-8+, CD15−CD193+ and CD15−CD125+ proportion of granulocytes according to disease outcome, respectively. Data did not conform to normal distribution and were analyzed using the t-test after natural logarithmic transformation; p < 0.05 is considered significant.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Proportion of neutrophils subsets expressing eosinophilic surface markers according to disease outcome. Notes: (a), (b) and (c) represents the natural logarithmic of the CD15+Siglec-8+, CD15+CD193+ and CD15+CD125+ proportion of granulocyte according to disease outcome, respectively. Data did not conform to normal distribution and were analyzed using the t-test after natural logarithmic transformation; p < 0.05 is considered significant.
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