A Significant Role of Soluble Programmed Death Ligand(sPDL-1) in a Progressive Infection Among Patients with Omicron SARS-CoV-2
Keywords:
Omicron, SARS-CoV-2, sPD-L1, Iraqi populationAbstract
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are thought to be critical in developing COVID-19. Even if Omicron had a lower risk of hospitalization and mortality than other variants, some progress has been observed. Programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) is an essential ICI target because it suppresses immune cell activity and serves as a fatigue signal for immune cells. To determine the function of soluble Program Death-Ligand1 (sPD-L1) in SARS-CoV-2 (Omicron variant) infection progression and its relation with biomarkers. A case-control study (43 COVID-19 patients and 30 healthy controls) was tested for the Omicron variant infection by real-time PCR, and the biomarker and sPD-L1 were measured with an ELISA kit. Median sPD-L1 levels in infected individuals were significantly higher than in healthy controls (1079 pg/mL vs. 618.8 pg/mL; p <0.0001). According to the two-tailed Fisher exact test, 93.3 % of mild-moderate individuals had an sPDL-1 level below the median of 1079 pg/ml, indicating minimal production. In contrast, significantly high levels were found in 76.9 % of severe-critical patients. sPD-L1 levels were strongly associated with viral load (Ct value) (p < 0.0001) and increased with older age (p = 0.024) along with CRP and Ferritin levels, serving as predictive indicators for infection progression. sPD-L1 may play a role in developing infection, together with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants, high viral load (low Ct value), the aged group, and severe infection, and with clinical symptoms. Additional research is needed to decrease sPD-L1-based interferon production.
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