CD169/SIGLEC1 is expressed on circulating monocytes in COVID-19 and expression levels are associated with disease severity
Jan-Moritz Doehn, Christoph Tabeling, Robert Biesen, Jacopo Saccomanno, Elena Madlung, Eva Pappe, Frieder Gabriel, Florian Kurth, Christian Meisel, Victor M. Corman, Leif G. Hanitsch, Sascha Treskatsch, Kathrin Heim, Miriam Stegemann, Christoph Ruwwe‐Glösenkamp, Holger Müller-Redetzky, Alexander Uhrig, Rajan Somasundaram, Claudia Spies, Horst von Bernuth, Jörg Hofmann, Christian Drosten, Norbert Suttorp, Martin Witzenrath, Leif Erik Sander, Ralf‐Harto Hübner
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Type I interferons are important in the defense of viral infections. Recently, neutralizing IgG auto-antibodies against type I interferons were found in patients with severe COVID-19 infection. Here, we analyzed expression of CD169/SIGLEC1, a well described downstream molecule in interferon signaling, and found increased monocytic CD169/SIGLEC1 expression levels in patients with mild, acute COVID-19, compared to patients with severe disease. We recommend further clinical studies to evaluate the value of CD169/SIGLEC1 expression in patients with COVID-19 with or without auto-antibodies against type I interferons.