Yuanyuan Li1,2,3,4, Haipeng Li1,2,3,4, Ruyan Fan1,2,3,4, Bo Wen1,2,3,4, Jian Zhang1,2,3,4, Xiaoying Cao1,2,3,4, Chengwu Wang1,2,3,4, Zhanyi Song1,2,3,4, Shuochi Li1,2,3,4, Xiaojie Li1,2,3,4, Xinjun Lv1,2,3,4, Xiaowang Qu1,2,3,4, Renbin Huang1,2,3,4, Wenpei Liu1,2,3,4
1aTranslational Medicine Institute and bDepartment of Neurology, The First People&apos
2s Hospital of Chenzhou, Chenzhou, dDepartment of Neurology, The Third People&apos
3s Hospital of Chenzhou, and cDepartment of Infectious Disease, The Second People&apos
4s Hospital of Yancheng, Yancheng, and eNational Institute of Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, China
Tóm tắt
Background/Aims: Coronavirus (CoV) infections induce respiratory tract illnesses and central nervous system (CNS) diseases. We aimed to explore the cytokine expression profiles in hospitalized children with CoV-CNS and CoV-respiratory tract infections. Methods: A total of 183 and 236 hospitalized children with acute encephalitis-like syndrome and respiratory tract infection, respectively, were screened for anti-CoV IgM antibodies. The expression profiles of multiple cytokines were determined in CoV-positive patients. Results: Anti-CoV IgM antibodies were detected in 22/183 (12.02%) and 26/236 (11.02%) patients with acute encephalitis-like syndrome and respiratory tract infection, respectively. Cytokine analysis revealed that the level of serum granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) was significantly higher in both CoV-CNS and CoV-respiratory tract infection compared with healthy controls. Additionally, the serum level of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) was significantly higher in CoV-CNS infection than in CoV-respiratory tract infection. In patients with CoV-CNS infection, the levels of IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1, and GM-CSF were significantly higher in their cerebrospinal fluid samples than in matched serum samples. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report showing a high incidence of CoV infection in hospitalized children, especially with CNS illness. The characteristic cytokine expression profiles in CoV infection indicate the importance of host immune response in disease progression.