ABSTRACT
Current medical guidelines consider pregnant women with COVID-19 to be a high-risk group. Since physiological gestation downregulates the immunological response to maintain "maternal-fetal tolerance", SARS-CoV-2 infection may constitute a potentially threatening condition to both the mother and the fetus. To establish the immune profile in pregnant COVID-19+ patients, a cross-sectional study was conducted. Pregnant women with COVID-19 (P-COVID-19+; n = 15) were analyzed and compared with nonpregnant women with COVID-19 (NP-COVID-19+; n = 15) or those with physiological pregnancy (P-COVID-19-; n = 13). Serological cytokine and chemokine concentrations, leucocyte immunophenotypes, and mononuclear leucocyte responses to polyclonal stimuli were analyzed in all groups. Higher concentrations of serological TNF-α, IL-6, MIP1b and IL-4 were observed within the P-COVID-19+ group, while cytokines and chemokines secreted by peripheral leucocytes in response to LPS, IL-6 or PMA-ionomicin were similar among the groups. Immunophenotype analysis showed a lower percentage of HLA-DR+ monocytes in P-COVID-19+ than in P-COVID-19- and a higher percentage of CD39+ monocytes in P-COVID-19+ than in NP-COVID-19+. After whole blood polyclonal stimulation, similar percentages of T cells and TNF+ monocytes between groups were observed. Our results suggest that P-COVID-19+ elicits a strong inflammatory response similar to NP-COVID19+ but also displays an anti-inflammatory response that controls the ATP/adenosine balance and prevents hyperinflammatory damage in COVID-19.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Monocytes , Apyrase/immunology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Cytokines , Female , Humans , Interleukin-6 , Pregnancy , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
Resumen La hipertensión pulmonar, por tradición, se ha clasificado en dos categorías: primaria o secundaria, con base en las causas o factores de riesgo asociados; sin embargo, a partir del Segundo Simposio Mundial en Hipertensión Pulmonar, realizado en Évian-les-Bains, Francia, en 1998, se estableció una clasificación clínica con el objetivo de individualizar las diferentes categorías de hipertensión pulmonar que comparten hallazgos patológicos, características hemodinámicas y tratamiento similar, estableciéndose, a partir de ello, cinco grupos de entidades claramente definidas. Se describe el caso de una paciente obstétrica con hipertensión arterial pulmonar grave a gran altitud, su abordaje y tratamiento, que tuvo evolución favorable. Las pacientes con cardiopatías congénitas pueden tener descompensación de la misma y volverse sintomáticas con un evento estresante que conlleva cambios fisiológicos que ponen a prueba su capacidad funcional, como es el embarazo. Éste es uno de los pocos casos existentes en la bibliografía acerca de cardiopatía congénita acianógena con hipertensión arterial pulmonar a gran altura en una paciente obstétrica.
Abstract Pulmonary hypertension has been traditionally classified in two categories: primary or secondary pulmonary hypertension, based on associated causes or risk factors; although, during the Second World Symposium in Pulmonary Hypertension held in Évian-les-Bains, France, in 1998, a new classification was developed, with the objective to individualize the different categories of pulmonary hypertension sharing pathologic features, hemodynamic characteristics and similar treatment and nowadays this classification includes five well distinguished types of pulmonary hypertension. We relate the case of an obstetric patient with severe pulmonary hypertension at high altitude, fortunately with favorable evolution. Patients with congenital cardiac disease can become symptomatic in front of a stressful event such as pregnancy. This is one of the few cases in literature about congenital cardiac disease with severe pulmonary hypertension in an obstetric patient.