Transcriptomic alterations in PBMCs of Long COVID patients

To further investigate the involvement of immune cells in acute and long-COVID-19 we use single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) for characterization of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from a select cohort of patients at the several time points of acute COVID-19 infection and 18 months post-acute infection. ScRNA-seq allows the identification of individual cells, classification of subsets and analysis of pathways involved, that may lead to possible answers regarding the pathophysiological principles of long-COVID. In the present study we aim to unravel the intricate details of immune cell alterations and the pathways involved in immune system perturbations in acute and chronic COVID-19 conditions.

为进一步探究免疫细胞在急性新冠与长期新冠中的作用机制，本研究采用单细胞RNA测序（single-cell RNA sequencing, scRNA-seq）技术，对入选队列患者在急性新冠感染的多个时间点以及感染后18个月时的外周血单个核细胞（peripheral blood mononuclear cells, PBMCs）进行表征分析。

该技术可实现单个细胞的识别、细胞亚群的分类以及相关通路的解析，可为阐明长期新冠的病理生理学原理提供潜在解答。

本研究旨在解析急性与慢性新冠感染状态下免疫细胞的复杂变化特征，以及免疫系统紊乱所涉及的相关通路。