IJMS, Vol. 24, Pages 3246: Monocytic HLA-DR Expression in Immune Responses of Acute Pancreatitis and COVID-19

IJMS, Vol. 24, Pages 3246: Monocytic HLA-DR Expression in Immune Responses of Acute Pancreatitis and COVID-19

International Journal of Molecular Sciences doi: 10.3390/ijms24043246

Authors: Shiyu Liu Wenjuan Luo Peter Szatmary Xiaoying Zhang Jing-Wen Lin Lu Chen Dan Liu Robert Sutton Qing Xia Tao Jin Tingting Liu Wei Huang

Acute pancreatitis is a common gastrointestinal disease with increasing incidence worldwide. COVID-19 is a potentially life-threatening contagious disease spread throughout the world, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. More severe forms of both diseases exhibit commonalities with dysregulated immune responses resulting in amplified inflammation and susceptibility to infection. Human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-DR, expressed on antigen-presenting cells, acts as an indicator of immune function. Research advances have highlighted the predictive values of monocytic HLA-DR (mHLA-DR) expression for disease severity and infectious complications in both acute pancreatitis and COVID-19 patients. While the regulatory mechanism of altered mHLA-DR expression remains unclear, HLA-DR−/low monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells are potent drivers of immunosuppression and poor outcomes in these diseases. Future studies with mHLA-DR-guided enrollment or targeted immunotherapy are warranted in more severe cases of patients with acute pancreatitis and COVID-19.