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\begin{document}

\title{Pre-existing asthma as a comorbidity does not modify cytokine responses
and severity of COVID-19}



\author[1]{Jian Luo}%
\author[1]{Yi-Ling Chen}%
\author[1]{Wentao Chen}%
\author[2]{David Duncan}%
\author[1]{Alexander Mentzer}%
\author[1]{Julian Knight}%
\author[1]{Graham Ogg}%
\author[1]{Paul Klenerman}%
\author[1]{Ian Pavord}%
\author[1]{Luzheng Xue}%
\affil[1]{University of Oxford}%
\affil[2]{Diamond Light Source Ltd}%


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  \date{May 24, 2024}


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\begin{abstract}
Background: A significant portion of COVID-19 sufferers have asthma. The
impacts of asthma on COVID-19 progression are still unclear but a
modifying effect is plausible as respiratory viruses are acknowledged to
be an important trigger for asthma exacerbations and a different,
potentially type-2 biased, immune response might occur. In this study,
we compared the blood circulating cytokine response to COVID-19
infection in patients with and without asthma. Methods: Plasma samples
and clinical information were collected from 80 patients with mild (25),
severe (36) or critical (19) COVID-19 and 29 healthy subjects at the
John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK. The concentrations of 51
circulating proteins in the plasma samples were measured with Luminex
and compared between groups. Results: Total 16 pre-existing asthma
patients were found (3 in mild, 10 in severe, and 3 in critical
COVID-19). The prevalence of asthma in COVID-19 severity groups did not
suggest a clear correlation between asthma and COVID-19 severity. Within
the same COVID-19 severity group, no differences were observed between
patients with or without asthma on oxygen saturation, CRP, neutrophil
counts, and length of hospital stay. The mortality in the COVID-19
patients with asthma (12.5\%) was not higher than that in patients
without asthma (17.2\%). No significant difference was found between
asthmatic and non-asthmatic in circulating cytokine response in
different COVID-19 severity groups, including the cytokines strongly
implicated in COVID-19 such as CXCL10, IL-6, CCL2, and IL-8.
Conclusions: Pre-existing asthma was not associated with an enhanced
cytokine response after COVID-19 infection, disease severity or
mortality.%
\end{abstract}%



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\verb`MS_figure_Luo.docx`  available at \url{https://authorea.com/users/725650/articles/708702-pre-existing-asthma-as-a-comorbidity-does-not-modify-cytokine-responses-and-severity-of-covid-19}

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