Microorganisms
Sex-Specific Cytokine Profiles Associated with Viral Load and Disease Severity in Patients with Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome
By Lianfeng Li, Ling Qiu, Yifei Wang and 11 others.
Abstract
Background
Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a severe tick-borne viral disease characterized by dysregulated host immune responses. Although previous studies have suggested sex-related differences in immune responses in SFTS, the sex-specific magnitude of cytokine changes and their relationships with viral load and laboratory parameters have not been fully characterized.
Methods
We investigated sex differences in cytokine profiles and their associations with viral load and disease severity in 100 confirmed SFTS patients and 60 healthy controls. Nineteen cytokines, viral load, and clinical and laboratory parameters were assessed in acute-phase sera. Correlation analyses were performed to assess the relationships of cytokine changes with viral load and clinical parameters. Multivariable regression analyses were used to evaluate the association between sex and cytokine changes after adjustment for potential confounders, and sex-stratified ROC analyses were conducted to assess the ability of cytokines to discriminate disease severity.