Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40471558›Full record

ArticleClinical science (London, England : 1979)2025

Dysregulation of NK cell subsets and phenotypes in COVID-19 patients with comorbid type 2 diabetes.

Kang Lei, Wenqi Fan, Ting Zhong, Xinyu Li, Rong Tang, Bin Zhao, Xia Li

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Clinical science (London, England : 1979), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Kang Lei *Department of Endocrinology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan , 421001, China.
Wenqi Fan *National Clinical Research Center for Metabolic Diseases, Key Laboratory of Diabetes immunology, Ministry of Education, and Department of Metabolism and Endocrinology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Ting ZhongNational Clinical Research Center for Metabolic Diseases, Key Laboratory of Diabetes immunology, Ministry of Education, and Department of Metabolism and Endocrinology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Xinyu LiNational Clinical Research Center for Metabolic Diseases, Key Laboratory of Diabetes immunology, Ministry of Education, and Department of Metabolism and Endocrinology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Rong TangNational Clinical Research Center for Metabolic Diseases, Key Laboratory of Diabetes immunology, Ministry of Education, and Department of Metabolism and Endocrinology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Bin ZhaoNational Clinical Research Center for Metabolic Diseases, Key Laboratory of Diabetes immunology, Ministry of Education, and Department of Metabolism and Endocrinology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.ORCID 0000-0001-7065-2416
Xia LiNational Clinical Research Center for Metabolic Diseases, Key Laboratory of Diabetes immunology, Ministry of Education, and Department of Metabolism and Endocrinology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China 82070812, 82470871, 82170795, 82470814
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Recent studies have linked natural killer (NK) cells to COVID-19. However, the role of NK cells in COVID-19 patients complicated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) remains unexplored. Our findings indicate no significant differences in the frequency or immunophenotype of total NK cells and the CD56bright CD16- subset among COVID-19 patients, T2D patients, and healthy individuals. Patients with severe COVID-19 had a greater prevalence of CD56dim CD16- cells subset and a lower prevalence of CD56dim CD16+ cells subset, with these trends being even more pronounced in those with comorbid T2D. The proportion of CD56dim CD16+ cell subset exhibited a significant negative correlation with both interleukin-6 levels and the duration of hospital stay. Furthermore, when COVID-19 patients were compared with patients with T2D or control subjects, a trend was noted toward increased expression of CD69, KIR, and CD52 and decreased expression of CD226, NKG2D, and CD62L. These immunophenotypic changes were particularly accentuated in COVID-19 patients with comorbid T2D. Importantly, the CD56dim CD16+ cells subset emerges as a substantial predictor of COVID-19 severity. Together, COVID-19 patients exhibit alterations in NK cell subsets, with aggravated dysregulation in individuals with T2D, and the CD56dim CD16+ cells subset may serve as an indicator of COVID-19 severity.

Indexed as

COVID-19Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2Killer Cells, NaturalAgedCase-Control StudiesCD56 AntigenComorbidityFemaleGPI-Linked ProteinsHumansImmunophenotypingMaleMiddle AgedPhenotypeReceptors, IgGSARS-CoV-2CD56 AntigenFCGR3B protein, humanGPI-Linked ProteinsReceptors, IgGCOVID-19flow cytometryimmunologyimmunometabolisminnate immunityNK cellstype 2 diabetes

Identifiers

PMID40471558
PMCPMC12238817

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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.