Cited by 919Kawasaki Disease and Coronary ComplicationsCOVID-19 Clinical Research StudiesAutoimmune and Inflammatory Disorders Research

The Immunology of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children with COVID-19

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Consiglio, Camila Rosat, Cotugno, Nicola, Sardh, Fabian, Pou, Christian, Amodio, Donato, Rodriguez, Lucie, Tan, Ziyang, Zicari, Sonia +15 more·2020·Cell

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is typically very mild and often asymptomatic in children. A complication is the rare multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) associated with COVID-19, presenting 4-6 weeks after infection as high fever, organ dysfunction, and strongly elevated markers of inflammation. The pathogenesis is unclear but has overlapping features with Kawasaki disease suggestive of vasculitis and a likely autoimmune etiology. We apply systems-level analyses of blood immune cells, cytokines, and autoantibodies in healthy children, children with Kawasaki disease enrolled prior to COVID-19, children infected with SARS-CoV-2, and children presenting with MIS-C. We find that the inflammatory response in MIS-C differs from the cytokine storm of severe acute COVID-19, shares several features with Kawasaki disease, but also differs from this condition with respect to T cell subsets, interleukin (IL)-17A, and biomarkers associated with arterial damage. Finally, autoantibody profiling suggests multiple autoantibodies that could be involved in the pathogenesis of MIS-C.

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  • MIS-C has distinct immunological features from acute severe adult COVID-19 and Kawasaki disease in circulating cytokine profiles and T cell compartment composition.

    “MIS-C has distinct immunological features different from the two with respect to circulating cytokine profiles and composition of the T cell compartment”

    From COVID-19 and the human innate immune system (2021) · cites this paper as Consiglio et al., 2020

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Authors
Consiglio, C. R., Cotugno, N., Sardh, F., Pou, C., Amodio, D., Rodriguez, L., Tan, Z., Zicari, S., Ruggiero, A., Pascucci, G. R., Santilli, V., Campbell, T., Bryceson, Y., Eriksson, D., Wang, J., Marchesi, A., Lakshmikanth, T., Campana, A., Villani, A., Rossi, P., Landegren, N., Palma, P., & Brodin, P.
Affiliations
  • Science for Life Laboratory (SE)
  • University of Rome Tor Vergata (IT)
  • Karolinska University Hospital (SE)
  • Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital (IT)
  • Karolinska Institutet (SE)
  • Uppsala University (SE)
Corresponding author
  • Rossi, Paolo
  • Landegren, Nils
  • Brodin, Petter
Venue
Cell
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-11
Volume
183
Issue
4
Pages
968-981.e7
ISSN
0092-8674 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3083424448
Cited by
919
References
58
Citations by year
2026: 30 · 2025: 46 · 2024: 89 · 2023: 185 · 2022: 218 · 2021: 311 · 2020: 36 · 2014: 1
FWCI
171.26
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cell (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • medRxiv (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Cineca Institutional Research Information System (Tor Vergata University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Uppsala University Publications (Uppsala University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Kawasaki Disease and Coronary Complications
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Hematology › Autoimmune and Inflammatory Disorders Research
Keywords
multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, Kawasaki disease, vasculitis, autoimmunity, cytokine storm, T cell subsets, IL-17A, autoantibodies, pediatric immunology, blood immune cells
MeSH terms
Betacoronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Autoantibodies, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome, Pneumonia, Viral, Severity of Illness Index, T-Lymphocyte Subsets, Cytokines, Coronavirus Infections, Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, Proteome, Principal Component Analysis, Immunity, Humoral, Pandemics

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