Mucosal immune responses in COVID19 - a living review
Claire Pearson, Rebecca Jeffery, David Ahern, Hannah Almuttaqi, Dominic S. Alonzi, Aljawharah Alrubayyi, Ghada Alsaleh, Valentina M T Bart, Vicky Batchelor, R. Bayliss, Dorothée L. Berthold, Jelena S. Bezbradica, Tehmina Bharuchq, Helene Borrmann, Mariana Borsa, Rowie Borst, Juliane Brun, Stephanie Burnell, Lorenzo Capitani, Athena Cavounidis, Lucy Chapman, Anne Chauveau, Liliana Cifuentes, Amy Codd, Ewoud B. Compeer, Clarissa Coveney, Amy Cross, Sara Danielli, Luke C. Davies, Calliope A. Dendrou, Sandra Dimonte, Ruban Rex Peter Durairaj, Lynn B. Dustin, Arthur Dyer, Ceri A. Fielding, Fabian Fischer, Awen Gallimore, Sarah Galloway, Anís N. Gammage, Ester Gea‐Mallorquí, Andrew Godkin, Stephanie Hanna, Cornelia Heuberger, Sarah L. Hulin-Curtis, Fadi Issa, Emma Jones, Ruth Jones, Kristin Ladell, Sarah N. Lauder, Kate Liddiard, Petros Ligoxygakis, Fangfang Lu, Bruce J. MacLachlan, Shayda Maleki-Toyserkani, Elizabeth H. Mann, Anna M. Marzeda, R. James Matthews, Julie M. Mazet, Anita Milicic, Emma Mitchell, Owen Moon, Van Dien Nguyen, Miriam O’Hanlon, Clara Eléonore Pavillet, Dimitra Peppa, Ana Pires, Eleanor Pring, Max Quastel, Sophie Reed, Jan Rehwinkel, Niamh Richmond, Felix Clemens Richter, Alice Robinson, Patrícia R S Rodrigues, Pragati Sabberwal, Arvind Sami, Raphael Sanches Peres, Quentin J. Sattentau, Barbora Schonfeldova, David Oliver Scourfield, T. Selvakumar, Freya R Shepherd, Cariad Shorten, Anna Katharina Simon, Adrian L. Smith, Alicia Teijeira Crespo, Michael Tellier, Emily Thornton, Lion F. K. Uhl, Erinke van Grinsven, A.K. Wann, Richard Williams, Joseph D. Wilson, Dingxi Zhou, Zihan Zhu, Emily Thornton
Abstract
COVID-19 was initially characterized as a disease primarily of the lungs, but it is becoming increasingly clear that the SARS-CoV2 virus is able to infect many organs and cause a broad pathological response. The primary infection site is likely to be a mucosal surface, mainly the lungs or the intestine, where epithelial cells can be infected with virus. Although it is clear that virus within the lungs can cause severe pathology, driven by an exaggerated immune response, infection within the intestine generally seems to cause minor or no symptoms. In this review, we compare the disease processes between the lungs and gastrointestinal tract, and what might drive these different responses. As the microbiome is a key part of mucosal barrier sites, we also consider the effect that microbial species may play on infection and the subsequent immune responses. Because of difficulties obtaining tissue samples, there are currently few studies focused on the local mucosal response rather than the systemic response, but understanding the local immune response will become increasingly important for understanding the mechanisms of disease in order to develop better treatments.