Transcriptomic analysis of COVID‑19 lungs and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples reveals predominant B cell activation responses to infection

Cavalli,Eugenio; Petralia,Maria Cristina; Basile,Maria Sofia; Bramanti,Alessia; Bramanti,Placido; Nicoletti,Ferdinando; Spandidos,Demetrios A.; Shoenfeld,Yehuda; Fagone,Paolo

doi:10.3892/ijmm.2020.4702

Transcriptomic analysis of COVID‑19 lungs and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples reveals predominant B cell activation responses to infection

Authors:
- Eugenio Cavalli
- Maria Cristina Petralia
- Maria Sofia Basile
- Alessia Bramanti
- Placido Bramanti
- Ferdinando Nicoletti
- Demetrios A. Spandidos
- Yehuda Shoenfeld
- Paolo Fagone
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Affiliations: Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, I‑95123 Catania, Italy, IRCCS (Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare) Centro Neurolesi ‘Bonino‑Pulejo’, I‑98124 Messina, Italy, Laboratory of Clinical Virology, Medical School, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece, Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Sheba Medical Center (Affiliated to Tel‑Aviv University), Tel-Hashomer 5265601, Israel
Published online on: August 12, 2020 https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2020.4702
Pages: 1266-1273
Copyright: © Cavalli et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

The outbreak of the 2019 coronavirus disease (named, COVID‑19), caused by the novel SARS‑CoV‑2 virus, represents a worldwide severe threat to public health. It is of the utmost importance to characterize the immune responses against the SARS‑CoV‑2 and the mechanisms of hyperinflammation, in order to design better therapeutic strategies for COVID‑19. In the present study, a transcriptomic analysis was performed to profile the immune signatures in lung and the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples from COVID‑19 patients and controls. Our data concordantly revealed increased humoral responses to infection. The elucidation of the host responses to SARS‑CoV‑2 infection may further improve our understanding of COVID‑19 pathogenesis and suggest better therapeutic strategies.

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