Author:
Fenninger Franz,Sherwood Karen R.,Wu Vivian,Wong Paaksum,DeMarco Mari L.,Wang Meng,Benedicto Vincent,Dwarka Krishna A.,Günther Oliver P.,Tate Logan,Yoshida Eric,Keown Paul A.,Kadatz Matthew,Lan James H.
Abstract
IntroductionThe immune responses of kidney transplant recipients against SARS-CoV-2 remains under studied.MethodsIn this prospective pilot study, we performed comprehensive immune profiling using cellular, proteomic, and serologic assays on a cohort of 9 kidney transplant recipients and 12 non-transplant individuals diagnosed with COVID-19.ResultsOur data show that in addition to having reduced SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody levels, kidney transplant recipients exhibited significant cellular differences including a decrease in naïve—but increase in effector T cells, a high number of CD28+ CD4 effector memory T cells, and increased CD8 T memory stem cells compared with non-transplant patients. Furthermore, transplant patients had lower concentrations of serum cytokine MIP-1β as well as a less diverse T cell receptor repertoire.ConclusionOverall, our results show that compared to non-transplant patients, kidney transplant recipients with SARS-CoV-2 infection exhibit an immunophenotype that is reminiscent of the immune signature observed in patients with severe COVID-19.