ReviewThe lancet. Healthy longevity2022
The bullwhip effect, T-cell telomeres, and SARS-CoV-2.
Review in The lancet. Healthy longevity, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Review of organ damage from COVID and Long COVID: a disease with a spectrum of pathology.Medical review (2021) · 2025Review
- Telomere length and COVID-19 disease severity: insights from hospitalized patients.Frontiers in aging · 2025Article
- Maternal infection of SARS-CoV-2 during the first and second trimesters leads to newborn telomere shortening.Journal of translational medicine · 2024Article
- Chronic inflammation and the hallmarks of aging.Molecular metabolism · 2023Review
- Enzymatic approaches against SARS-CoV-2 infection with an emphasis on the telomere-associated enzymes.Biotechnology letters · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Both myeloid cells, which contribute to innate immunity, and lymphoid cells, which dominate adaptive immunity, partake in defending against SARS-CoV-2. In response to the virus, the otherwise slow haematopoietic production supply chain quickly unleashes its preconfigured myeloid element, which largely resists a bullwhip-like effect. By contrast, the lymphoid element risks a bullwhip-like effect when it produces T cells and B cells that are specifically designed to clear the virus. As T-cell production is telomere-length dependent and telomeres shorten with age, older adults are at higher risk of a T-cell shortfall when contracting SARS-CoV-2 than are younger adults. A poorly calibrated adaptive immune response, stemming from a bullwhip-like effect, compounded by a T-cell deficit, might thus contribute to the propensity of people with inherently short T-cell telomeres to develop severe COVID-19. The immune systems of these individuals might also generate an inadequate T-cell response to anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.