Do Reduced Numbers of Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Contribute to the Aggressive Clinical Course of COVID-19 in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia?

Overview

Journal Scand J Immunol

Specialty Allergy & Immunology

Date 2022 Mar 4

PMID 35244285

Authors

Carl Inge Edvard Smith

Rula Zain

Anders Osterborg

Marzia Palma

Marcus Buggert

Peter Bergman

Yenan Bryceson

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Infections with SARS-CoV-2 have been unduly severe in patients with haematological malignancies, in particular in those with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Based on a series of observations, we propose that an underlying mechanism for the aggressive clinical course of COVID-19 in CLL is a paucity of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) in these patients. Indeed, pDCs express Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7), which together with interferon-regulatory factor 7 (IRF7), enables pDCs to produce large amounts of type I interferons, essential for combating COVID-19. Treatment of CLL with Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors increased the number of pDCs, likely secondarily to the reduction in the tumour burden.

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