ArticleEMBO molecular medicine2020
Altered bioenergetics and mitochondrial dysfunction of monocytes in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.
Article in EMBO molecular medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 124 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
124 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 212 citations in OpenAlex.
- Taurine supplementation as a therapeutic strategy for cellular senescence and chronic inflammation in long COVID: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Pooled it
- A Review of In Silico Research, SARS-CoV-2, and Neurodegeneration: Focus on Papain-Like Protease.Neurotoxicity research · 2022Pooled it
- Intravenous methylprednisolone pulses in hospitalised patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia: a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial.The European respiratory journal · 2022Trial
- Cognition-Linked Monocyte State Reveals Altered Myeloid-Lymphoid Coordination in Neuro-PASC.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species on Monocyte and Macrophage Biology.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The inflammation-immunosuppression loop as a driver of immune dysfunction and secondary infections in severe COVID-19.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Respiratory epithelial cells as central mediators of immune crosstalk in SARS-CoV-2 infection.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Mitochondrial function is impaired in long COVID patients.Annals of medicine · 2025Observational
- Impaired Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell (PBMC) Mitochondrial Respiration Is Associated with Mortality and Long COVID Syndrome Severity in COVID-19 Patients.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Deep Learning-Based Automatic Segmentation and Analysis of Mitochondrial Damage by Zika Virus and SARS-CoV-2.Viruses · 2025Article
- Overview of methods that determine mitochondrial function in human disease.Metabolism: clinical and experimental · 2025Review
- Monocyte Involvement in the Pathogenesis of Myeloproliferative Neoplasms.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Role of mitochondria in physiological activities, diseases, and therapy.Molecular biomedicine · 2025Review
- Persistent Monocytic Bioenergetic Impairment and Mitochondrial DNA Damage in PASC Patients with Cardiovascular Complications.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- T-lymphocytes suppression by CD14Journal of translational medicine · 2025Article
- Extracellular Vesicles Alter Trophoblast Function in Pregnancies Complicated by COVID-19.Journal of extracellular vesicles · 2025Article
- Macrophage peroxisomes guide alveolar regeneration and limit SARS-CoV-2 tissue sequelae.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Lymphocyte Inhibition Mechanisms and Immune Checkpoints in COVID-19: Insights into Prognostic Markers and Disease Severity.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Observational
- Long-term mitochondrial and metabolic impairment in lymphocytes of subjects who recovered after severe COVID-19.Cell biology and toxicology · 2025Article
- New molecular mechanisms to explain the neuroprotective effects of insulin-like growth factor II in a cellular model of Parkinson's disease.Journal of advanced research · 2025Article
64 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
20 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
In patients infected by SARS-CoV-2 who experience an exaggerated inflammation leading to pneumonia, monocytes likely play a major role but have received poor attention. Thus, we analyzed peripheral blood monocytes from patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and found that these cells show signs of altered bioenergetics and mitochondrial dysfunction, had a reduced basal and maximal respiration, reduced spare respiratory capacity, and decreased proton leak. Basal extracellular acidification rate was also diminished, suggesting reduced capability to perform aerobic glycolysis. Although COVID-19 monocytes had a reduced ability to perform oxidative burst, they were still capable of producing TNF and IFN-γ in vitro. A significantly high amount of monocytes had depolarized mitochondria and abnormal mitochondrial ultrastructure. A redistribution of monocyte subsets, with a significant expansion of intermediate/pro-inflammatory cells, and high amounts of immature monocytes were found, along with a concomitant compression of classical monocytes, and an increased expression of inhibitory checkpoints like PD-1/PD-L1. High plasma levels of several inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, including GM-CSF, IL-18, CCL2, CXCL10, and osteopontin, finally confirm the importance of monocytes in COVID-19 immunopathogenesis.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.