Biology subjects

Lutter, R.

Publications and source records attributed to Lutter, R..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2020

Distinct cellular immune profiles in the airways and blood of critically ill patients with COVID 19

Our understanding of the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) immune response is almost exclusively derived from studies that examined blood. To gain insight in the pulmonary immune response we analysed BALF samples and paired blood samples from 17 severe COVID-19 patients. Macrophages and T cells were the most abundant cells in BALF. In the lungs, both CD4 and CD8 T cells were predominantly effector memory cells and expressed higher levels of the exhaustion marker PD-1 than in peripheral blood. Prolonged ICU stay associated with a reduced proportion of activated T cells in peripheral blood and even more so in BALF. T cell activation in blood, but not in BALF, was higher in fatal COVID-19 cases. Increased levels of inflammatory mediators were more pronounced in BALF than in plasma. In conclusion, the bronchoalveolar immune response in COVID-19 has a unique local profile that strongly differs from the immune profile in peripheral blood. SummaryThe bronchoalveolar immune response in severe COVID-19 strongly differs from the peripheral blood immune profile. Fatal COVID-19 associated with T cell activation blood, but not in BALF.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2019

Loss of adaptive capacity in asthmatics revealed by biomarker fluctuation dynamics on experimental rhinovirus challenge

Asthma is a dynamic disease, in which lung mechanical and inflammatory processes often interact in a complex, unpredictable manner. We hypothesize that this may be explained by respiratory disease-related systems instability and loss of adaptability to changing environmental conditions, resulting in highly fluctuating biomarkers and symptoms. Using time series of inflammatory (eosinophils, neutrophils, FeNO), clinical and lung function biomarkers (PEF, FVC, and FEV1), we estimated this loss of adaptive capacity (AC) during an experimental perturbation with a rhinovirus in 24 healthy and asthmatic volunteers. Loss of AC was estimated by comparing similarities between pre- and post-challenge time series. Unlike healthy participants, the asthmatics post-viral-challenge state resembled significantly more other rhinovirus-infected asthmatics than their own pre-viral-challenge state (hypergeometric-test: p=0.029). This reveals loss of AC, and supports the novel concept that not only single physiological mechanisms, but interacting dynamic disease properties are altered in asthma and contribute to a more vulnerable phenotype.

physiology↗