UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Alternative pathway dysregulation in tissues drives sustained complement activation and predicts outcome across the disease course in COVID-19

Siggins, MK; Davies, K; Fellows, R; Thwaites, RS; Baillie, JK; Semple, MG; Openshaw, PJM; ... Barlow, SL; + view all (2023) Alternative pathway dysregulation in tissues drives sustained complement activation and predicts outcome across the disease course in COVID-19. Immunology , 168 (3) pp. 473-492. 10.1111/imm.13585. Green open access

[thumbnail of Immunology - 2022 - Siggins - Alternative pathway dysregulation in tissues drives sustained complement activation and.pdf]
Preview
Text
Immunology - 2022 - Siggins - Alternative pathway dysregulation in tissues drives sustained complement activation and.pdf

Download (3MB) | Preview

Abstract

Complement, a critical defence against pathogens, has been implicated as a driver of pathology in COVID-19. Complement activation products are detected in plasma and tissues and complement blockade considered for therapy. To delineate roles of complement in immunopathogenesis, we undertook the largest comprehensive study of complement in an COVID-19 to date, a comprehensive profiling of 16 complement biomarkers, including key components, regulators and activation products, in 966 plasma samples from 682 hospitalised COVID-19 patients collected across the hospitalisation period as part of the UK ISARIC4C study. Unsupervised clustering of complement biomarkers mapped to disease severity and supervised machine learning identified marker sets in early samples that predicted peak severity. Compared to heathy controls, complement proteins and activation products (Ba, iC3b, terminal complement complex) were significantly altered in COVID-19 admission samples in all severity groups. Elevated alternative pathway activation markers (Ba and iC3b) and decreased alternative pathway regulator (properdin) in admission samples associated with more severe disease and risk of death. Levels of most complement biomarkers were reduced in severe disease, consistent with consumption and tissue deposition. Latent class mixed modelling and cumulative incidence analysis identified the trajectory of increase of Ba to be a strong predictor of peak COVID-19 disease severity and death. The data demonstrate that early-onset, uncontrolled activation of complement, driven by sustained and progressive amplification through the alternative pathway amplification loop is a ubiquitous feature of COVID-19, further exacerbated in severe disease. These findings provide novel insights into COVID-19 immunopathogenesis and inform strategies for therapeutic intervention.

Type: Article
Title: Alternative pathway dysregulation in tissues drives sustained complement activation and predicts outcome across the disease course in COVID-19
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1111/imm.13585
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1111/imm.13585
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2022 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: Alternative pathway, Biomarkers, COVID-19, Complement
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Infection and Immunity
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10160844
Downloads since deposit
58Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item