Erythroid precursors and progenitors suppress adaptive immunity and get invaded by SARS-CoV-2

Summary SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with lower blood oxygen levels, even in patients without hypoxia requiring hospitalization. This discordance illustrates the need for a more unifying explanation as to whether directly or indirectly affects erythropoiesis. Here, we show significantly enriched CD71+ erythroid precursors/progenitors circulation of COVID-19 patients. We found that these cells have distinctive immunosuppressive properties. In agreement, observed strong negative correlation between frequency T and B cell proportions The expansion was negatively correlated hemoglobin levels. A subpopulation abundant cells, CD45+ co-express ACE2, TMPRSS2, CD147, CD26, can be infected SARS-CoV-2. turn, pre-treatment dexamethasone diminished ACE2/TMPRSS2 expression subsequently reduced their infectivity provides novel insight into impact on erythropoiesis seen