In:
Science Immunology, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Vol. 6, No. 62 ( 2021-08-10)
Abstract:
Autosomal inborn errors of type I IFN immunity and autoantibodies against these cytokines underlie at least 10% of critical COVID-19 pneumonia cases. We report very rare, biochemically deleterious X-linked TLR7 variants in 16 unrelated male individuals aged 7 to 71 years (mean, 36.7 years) from a cohort of 1202 male patients aged 0.5 to 99 years (mean, 52.9 years) with unexplained critical COVID-19 pneumonia. None of the 331 asymptomatically or mildly infected male individuals aged 1.3 to 102 years (mean, 38.7 years) tested carry such TLR7 variants ( P = 3.5 × 10 −5 ). The phenotypes of five hemizygous relatives of index cases infected with SARS-CoV-2 include asymptomatic or mild infection ( n = 2) or moderate ( n = 1), severe ( n = 1), or critical ( n = 1) pneumonia. Two patients from a cohort of 262 male patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia (mean, 51.0 years) are hemizygous for a deleterious TLR7 variant. The cumulative allele frequency for deleterious TLR7 variants in the male general population is 〈 6.5 × 10 −4 . We show that blood B cell lines and myeloid cell subsets from the patients do not respond to TLR7 stimulation, a phenotype rescued by wild-type TLR7 . The patients’ blood plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) produce low levels of type I IFNs in response to SARS-CoV-2. Overall, X-linked recessive TLR7 deficiency is a highly penetrant genetic etiology of critical COVID-19 pneumonia, in about 1.8% of male patients below the age of 60 years. Human TLR7 and pDCs are essential for protective type I IFN immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in the respiratory tract.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2470-9468
DOI:
10.1126/sciimmunol.abl4348
Language:
English
Publisher:
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Publication Date:
2021
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