Author information

¹Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Infectious Diseases and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School (MHH) OE 6810, Carl-Neuberg-Straße 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany.

²Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM), A Joint Venture Between Helmholtz-Centre for Infection Research and Hannover Medical School, Feodor-Lynen-Straße 11, 30625, Hannover, Germany.

³German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hannover-Braunschweig, Hannover, Germany.

⁴TWINCORE, Centre of Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, A Joint Venture Between Helmholtz-Centre for Infection Research and Hannover Medical School, Feodor-Lynen-Straße 7, 30625, Hannover, Germany.

⁵Cluster of Excellence RESIST (EXC 2155), Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Straße 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany.

⁶Biomedical Research in Endstage and Obstructive Lung Disease Hannover (BREATH), German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Hannover, Germany.

⁷Department of Respiratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Hannover Medical School (MHH), Hannover, Germany.

⁸Hannover Unified Biobank (HUB), Hannover Medical School (MHH), Hannover, Germany.

⁹Department of Internal Medicine and Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

¹⁰Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Infectious Diseases and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School (MHH) OE 6810, Carl-Neuberg-Straße 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany. Cornberg.markus@mh-hannover.de.

¹¹Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM), A Joint Venture Between Helmholtz-Centre for Infection Research and Hannover Medical School, Feodor-Lynen-Straße 11, 30625, Hannover, Germany. Cornberg.markus@mh-hannover.de.

¹²German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hannover-Braunschweig, Hannover, Germany. Cornberg.markus@mh-hannover.de.

¹³TWINCORE, Centre of Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, A Joint Venture Between Helmholtz-Centre for Infection Research and Hannover Medical School, Feodor-Lynen-Straße 7, 30625, Hannover, Germany. Cornberg.markus@mh-hannover.de.

¹⁴Cluster of Excellence RESIST (EXC 2155), Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Straße 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany. Cornberg.markus@mh-hannover.de.

Abstract

Viral infections can be acute or chronic, with the immune system pivotal in immunopathogenesis. The potential reversibility of inflammation post-viral elimination is of current interest. This study compares the dynamics of soluble inflammatory mediators (SIM) during and after respiratory infections with SARS-CoV-2 and blood-borne acute and chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. The study included patients with acute HCV (n = 29), chronic HCV (n = 54), and SARS-CoV-2 (n = 39 longitudinal, n = 103 cross-sectional), along with 30 healthy controls. Blood samples were collected at baseline, end of treatment/infection, and during follow-up (up to 9 months). SIMs were quantified using the HD-SP-X Imaging and Analysis System™. At baseline, SIM profiles in acute SARS-CoV-2 and HCV infections were significantly elevated compared with controls. During follow-up, SIM decline was less pronounced in acute and chronic HCV infections after successful therapy than in SARS-CoV-2 infections. Most SIM in the SARS-CoV-2 cohort normalized within 3 months. In chronic HCV, SIM were higher in cirrhotic than noncirrhotic patients post-HCV elimination. Dynamics of SIM after viral elimination vary between blood-borne acute and chronic HCV infections and respiratory SARS-CoV-2 infections. Immunological imprints 3-9 months after HCV elimination appear more pronounced than after SARS-CoV-2 infection.