Question

PLEASE ANSWER ONLY QUESTION 8 PLEASE ANSWER ONLY QUESTION 8 THANK YOU

Assignment: Immune system

During the COVID-19 outbreak doctors took samples of patients’ blood and analyzed them to determine how the immune system responds to the infection. The data below is separated into two groups: patients who had mild signs and symptoms and those who had severe illness.

Table 1: Proportions of leukocytes in blood from COVID-19 infected patients.

Leukocyte	Normal percentage	Mild	Severe
Neutrophil	40-75%	67.5%	77.6%
Lymphocytes (T cells + B cells)	20-50%	21.4%	14.1%
Monocytes	3.0-10%	8.4%	6.6%
Eosinophils	0.4-8.0%	0.2%	0.0%
Basophils	0.0-1.0%	0.2%	0.1%
Helper T cells	27-51%	39.8%	37.2%
B cells	5.0-18%	18.5%	21.8%

Table 2: Blood protein levels from COVID-19 infected patients.

Protein	Normal range	Mild	Severe
C-reactive protein, mg/L	0.0-1.0	33.2	57.9
Tumor necrosis factor-α, pg/mL	0.0-8.1	8.4	8.7
Interleukin-6, pg/mL	0.0-7.0	13.3	25.2

1. Use Table 1 to identify the cell types that do not fall in the normal range for patients with mild COVID-19 infection and describe if there are more or less of this cell type compared to normal individuals.

                Example: Eosinophils - less
               

2. Use Table 1 to identify the cells types that do not fall in the normal range for patients with severe COVID-19 infection.

               

3. Based on this information, which cell type seems to have the most significant difference between patients who have mild versus severe COVID-19 infection?

               

4. In patients with severe COVID-19, explain how having fewer of the cell type identified in question 3 could result in more severe symptoms of the disease.

5. Briefly explain the function of the following proteins found in Table 2:

                a. C-reactive protein (CRP)

                b. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)

                c. Interleukin 6 (IL-6)

6. Increased expression one of these three proteins (CRP, TNF-a, IL-6) may be responsible for the differences in cell types found between mild and severe patients. Which protein is it, and why?

7. One proposed treatment for COVID-19 is called Convalescent Plasma Therapy. Explain how Convalescent Plasma Therapy is proposed to work for COVID-19 and if this is a passive or active form of immunity.

8. Propose an alternate treatment to convalescent plasma therapy for severe COVID-19 patients based on the information gathered in questions 1 through 6.

Answer 1

1. The cell types that do not fall in the normal range for patients with mild COVID-19 infection and describe if there are more or less of this cell type compared to normal individuals is Eosinophils - they are less than normal range

2. The cells types that do not fall in the normal range for patients with severe COVID-19 infection are :-

Neutrophils - more than normal range

Lymphocytes - less than normal range

Eosinophils - less than normal range

B - cells - more than normal range

3. The cell type that seems to have the most significant difference between patients who have mild versus severe COVID-19 infection is Neutrophils.

4. Having fewer of the cell type identified in question 3 i.e. neutrophils could result in more severe symptoms of the disease because these cells are the defence system in our body to prevent infection ,if they are less then chances of infection is high and also infection would severe in nature.