EXTRACELLULAR ATP DRIVES T CELL IMBALANCE IN PEDIATRIC COVID-19

RUSSO C; RAIDEN S; ALGIERI, S; DE CARLI, N; DAVENPORT C; BRUERA, MJ; SARLI, M; SEERY V; SANANEZ, I; SIMAZ N; BAYLE C; FERRERO FERNANDO; GEFFNER J; ARRUVITO L

Congreso; Reunión Conjunta de Sociedades de Biociencias SAIC-SAI-AAFE-NanoMedAR.; 2021

Background: Profound Tregs perturbations correlate with COVID-19 severity in adults. Extracellular ATP increases in inflammatory milieus with its concentration being regulated by CD39, mainly expressed on Tregs. There is no data regarding Tregs and Th17 cell balance in children with COVID-19.Aims: 1) to analyze the frequency and phenotype of Tregs children with COVID-19 and controls; 2) to quantified the levels of ATP release by stimulated PBMCs and in serum; 3) to study the effect of extracellular ATP on CD4+ T cell balance. Methods: We used sera, PBMCs and/or purified T cells from children with COVID-19 (n=54) and controls (n=24) to evaluate frequency and phenotype of cells subset and proliferative response by flow cytometry; ATP levels by luminometry; cytokines levels by multiplex assays. Results: We observed a decreased frequency of Tregs in children with COVID-19, mainly in those with severe disease (p