Association of dengue virus‐specific polyfunctional T‐cell responses with clinical disease severity in acute dengue infection,

Dulharie T. Wijeratne, Samitha Fernando, Laksiri Gomes, Chandima Jeewandara, Geethal Jayarathna, Yashoda Perera, Samurdhi Wickramanayake, Ananda Wijewickrama, Graham S. Ogg, Gathsaurie N. Malavige

Version of Record online: 30 September 2019

We investigated polyfunctional dengue virus (DENV)‐NS3‐ and DENV–NS5‐specific T‐cell responses in patients with acute dengue and found that DENV‐specific T cells producing quadruple cytokines/effectors were more frequent in patients with dengue fever, and they had a different functional phenotype. While DENV‐specific T cells in those with milder disease preferentially produced interferon γ (IFNγ) > tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) > macrophage inflammatory protein‐1β (MIP‐1β)   >  Cluster of Differentiation CD107a (CD107a), those with severe disease had a functional phenotype of CD107a > MIP‐1β > IFNγ > TNF‐α. Therefore, our results suggest that not only the magnitude of T‐cell responses, but also the functional phenotype of DENV‐specific T cells associate with disease severity.