High Levels of IL-1β, TNF-α and MIP-1α One Month after the Onset of the Acute SARS-CoV-2 Infection, Predictors of Post COVID-19 in Hospitalized Patients

Abstract

The pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection has left behind a new symptomatology called post COVID-19, or “long COVID”. The pathophysiological mechanisms still remain controversial; however, a link between persistent inflammation and these sequelae has been suggested. Herein, we longitudinally assessed up- and downstream molecules of the NLRP3 inflammasome’s pathway in three study groups: healthy donors (HC, n = 14) and donors with a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection who had been hospitalized, the latter divided into post COVID-19 (PC, n = 27) and non-post COVID-19 patients (nPC, n = 27) based on the presence or absence of symptomatology at month 6, respectively. Plasma cytokines (IL-1β, IL-3, IL-6, IL-8, IL-18, IP-10, MIG, TNF-α, IFN-γ, MIP-1α and MIP-1β) and total peroxide (TPX) levels were quantified at baseline and at months 1 and 6 after the onset of the infection. Baseline values were the highest for both TPX and cytokines that progressively decreased thereafter the acute infection. IL-1β, MIP-1α and TNF-α at month 1 were the only cytokines that showed a significant difference between nPC and PC. These findings suggest that a persistent inflammatory state one month after the onset of SARS-CoV-2 infection related to specific cytokines (IL-1β, MIP-1α, and TNF-α) might guide to predicting post COVID-19 symptomatology.