Studio sulla presenza di componenti monoclonali in pazienti con infezione da SARS-CoV-2: dati preliminari
Presence of monoclonal components in SARS-CoV-2 patients: preliminary data
AUTORI
ABSTRACT
Presence of monoclonal components in SARS-CoV-2 patients: preliminary data
Introduction: electrophoresis of serum proteins (EF) is indicated for the identification and monitoring of monoclonal components (CM). It has been shown that interleukins play a role in the differentiation of B cells in plasma cells producing immunoglobulins; it has been also demonstrated that COVID-19 patients show a higher prevalence of CM in comparison to the general population. The aim of this work is to retrospectively evaluate the presence of CM in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, compared to a population of patients admitted in non-COVID-19 wards.
Methods: EF was performed in the two groups of patients (COVID positive and negative) using capillary electrophoresis. Patients with previous plasma cell dyscrasias have been excluded.
Results: the results show that in the COVID positive group, the incidence of CM is statistically higher compared to the COVID negative group (39.7% versus 13.3%). In one patient, the CM was no longer detectable when the swab became negative.
Conclusions: the study confirmed that the viral infection produces detectable CM, probably transitory as shown by a case index. The pathogenesis of the phenomenon could be explained by the cytokine stimulus on B cells and by the interaction of the virus with the lymphocyte ACE 2 receptor. Larger studies are needed to confirm the presented data.
