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Updated: Nov 4, 2025

Author Spotlight: Advancing Immune Monitoring in Critical Care Patients Using Whole Blood Assays
Published on: September 20, 2024
Severe T cell hyporeactivity in ventilated COVID-19 patients correlates with prolonged virus persistence and poor
Kerstin Renner1, Tobias Schwittay1, Sophia Chaabane1
1Department of Nephrology, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Abstract:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can lead to pneumonia and hyperinflammation. Here we show a sensitive method to measure polyclonal T cell activation by downstream effects on responder cells like basophils, plasmacytoid dendritic cells, monocytes and neutrophils in whole blood. We report a clear T cell hyporeactivity in hospitalized COVID-19 patients that is pronounced in ventilated patients, associated with prolonged virus persistence and reversible with clinical recovery. COVID-19-induced T cell hyporeactivity is T cell extrinsic and caused by plasma components, independent of occasional immunosuppressive medication of the patients. Monocytes respond stronger in males than females and IL-2 partially restores T cell activation. Downstream markers of T cell hyporeactivity are also visible in fresh blood samples of ventilated patients. Based on our data we developed a score to predict fatal outcomes and identify patients that may benefit from strategies to overcome T cell hyporeactivity.
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