Utrero Rico, AlbertoRuiz Ruigómez, MaríaLaguna Goya, RocíoArrieta Ortubay, EstíbalizChivite Lacaba, MartaGonzález Cuadrado, CeciliaLalueza Blanco, AntonioAlmendro Vázquez, PatriciaSerrano, AntonioAguado García, José MaríaLumbreras Bermejo, Carlos JuanPaz Artal, Estela Natividad2023-06-162023-06-162021-10-26Utrero Rico, A., Ruiz Ruigómez, M., Laguna Goya, R. et al. «A Short Corticosteroid Course Reduces Symptoms and Immunological Alterations Underlying Long-COVID». Biomedicines, vol. 9, n.o 11, octubre de 2021, p. 1540. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines9111540.2227-905910.3390/biomedicines9111540https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/4651Despite the growing number of patients with persistent symptoms after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, the pathophysiology underlying long-COVID is not yet well characterized, and there is no established therapy. We performed a deep immune profiling in nine patients with persistent symptoms (PSP), before and after a 4-day prednisone course, and five post-COVID-19 patients without persistent symptoms (NSP). PSP showed a perturbed distribution of circulating mononuclear cell populations. Symptoms in PSP were accompanied by a pro-inflammatory phenotype characterized by increased conventional dendritic cells and augmented expression of antigen presentation, co-stimulation, migration, and activation markers in monocytes. The adaptive immunity compartment in PSP showed a Th1-predominance, decreased naïve and regulatory T cells, and augmentation of the PD-1 exhaustion marker. These immune alterations reverted after the corticosteroid treatment and were maintained during the 4-month follow-up, and their normalization correlated with clinical amelioration. The current work highlights an immunopathogenic basis together with a possible role for steroids in the treatment for long-COVID.engAtribución 3.0 Españahttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/journal articlehttps://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines9111540https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/9/11/1540open accessLong-COVIDImmunological alterationsCorticosteroidsInmunología2412 Inmunología