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© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Basophils and mast cells are among the principal inducers of Th2 responses and have a crucial role in allergic and anti-parasitic protective immunity. Basophils can function as antigen-presenting cells that bind antigens on their surface and boost humoral immune responses, inducing Th2 cell differentiation. Their depletion results in lower humoral memory activation and greater infection susceptibility. Basophils seem to have an active role upon immune response to SARS-CoV-2. In fact, a coordinate adaptive immune response to SARS-CoV-2 is magnified by basophils. It has been observed that basophil amount is lower during acute disease with respect to the recovery phase and that the grade of this depletion is an important determinant of the antibody response to the virus. Moreover, mast cells, present in a great quantity in the nasal epithelial and lung cells, participate in the first immune response to SARS-CoV-2. Their activation results in a hyperinflammatory syndrome through the release of inflammatory molecules, participating to the “cytokine storm” and, in a longer period, inducing pulmonary fibrosis. The literature data suggest that basophil counts may be a useful prognostic tool for COVID-19, since their reduction is associated with a worse prognosis. Mast cells, on the other hand, represent a possible therapeutic target for reducing the airway inflammation characteristic of the hyperacute phase of the disease.

Details

Title
Basophils and Mast Cells in COVID-19 Pathogenesis
Author
Murdaca, Giuseppe 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Mario Di Gioacchino 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Greco, Monica 3 ; Borro, Matteo 3 ; Paladin, Francesca 4 ; Petrarca, Claudia 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Gangemi, Sebastiano 6 

 Clinical Immunology Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa and Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, 16132 Genoa, Italy; [email protected] 
 Center for Advanced Studies and Technology, G’ d’Annunzio University, 66100 Chieti, Italy; [email protected]; Institute for Clinical Immunotherapy and Advanced Biological Treatments, 65100 Pescara, Italy 
 Internal Medicine Department, San Paolo Hospital, 17100 Savona, Italy; [email protected] (M.G.); [email protected] (M.B.) 
 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino IRCCS, 16132 Genoa, Italy; [email protected] 
 Center for Advanced Studies and Technology, G’ d’Annunzio University, 66100 Chieti, Italy; [email protected]; Department of Medicine and Aging Sciences, G. d’Annunzio University, 66100 Chieti, Italy 
 Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, School and Operative Unit of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy; [email protected] 
First page
2754
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20734409
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2584358776
Copyright
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.