Pedagogical insights from immune responses: analyzing Covid-19's severity through systemic immune-inflammation indexes and gene expressions

Abstract

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, it's crucial to understand the relationship between immune responses and clinical results, which also underpins interdisciplinary educational discussions. This study goes beyond standard medical evaluation, linking clinical medicine to sociodemography, genetics, and education, emphasizing the importance of an interconnected view for a comprehensive understanding. Severe COVID-19 cases show imbalances in the immune system, highlighting the need for early and precise prognosis, given its wider sociodemographic consequences. This study aims to investigate potential associations between systemic immune-inflammation indexes, gene expression of IFNA1, IFN receptors, IL17A, and plasmatic IFN-gamma in COVID-19 patients. Our observational study recruited 67 COVID-19 patients, both mild (28) or severe (39). Data was gathered on demographics, clinical symptoms, and laboratory results. Blood tests were used to analyze gene expressions and plasma IFNG levels. Most severe cases were males (61.5%) and of the black ethnic group (87.2%), with a clear age difference compared to mild cases. Elevated levels of systemic immune-inflammation measures were seen in severe cases, with gene expressions of IFNA1 and IL17A increasing, whereas IFNAR1 was more common in mild cases. From a pedagogical standpoint, the study emphasizes the link between clinical findings, sociodemographic and genetics data, underlining its profound implications for medical education. It suggests using specific gene expressions and hematological tests as COVID-19 severity indicators and underscores the need for further research to validate and explore broader clinical and pedagogical implications.