Lymphocyte B Subtypes in Peripheral Blood: A Prognostic Biomarker for COVID-19 Patients

Abstract

Background: In view of the scientific gap in knowledge of the involvement of the B-cell compartment and clinical prognostic in SARS-CoV-2 infection, this work aims to evaluate the B-cell subsets and the presence of specific IgM and IgG, as well as neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, in unvaccinated patients diagnosed with COVID-19.

Methods: This study included 133 patients with COVID-19. Cellular components were assessed by flow cytometry, and immunoglobulin levels and reactivity were measured by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results: Our results showed no changes in less differentiated B cells. However, non-switched memory B cells (NS-MBCs) and class-switched memory B cells (CS-MBCs) were reduced in the patients with moderate disease. Also, plasmablasts and double-negative (DN) or "atypical" memory B cells were increased in groups of patients with moderate to critical conditions. In addition, the production of IgM, IgG, and neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 demonstrated a positive correlation between the positivity of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and disease severity. Besides being related to the development of a more severe course of the disease, the increase in DN B-cell count also contributed to a poorer disease outcome in patients with a higher percentage of these cells. On the other hand, we observed an increase in the absolute number of CS-MBCs in patients with greater chances of survival.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the B-cell compartment may contribute to the development of clinical symptoms of COVID-19, with changes in B-cell subset counts linked to disease course and patient prognosis.