American Society of Hirudotherapy

Cytotoxic lymphocytes are dysregulated in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children

Research article published in medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences (2020)

Last Updated: June 18, 2026Reviewed by: ASH Editorial Board
Research article — evidence reviewArticle reference
Evidence: Research reportSafety & Infection ControlBeckmann ND et al. · medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences, 2020

Abstract

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) presents with fever, inflammation and multiple organ involvement in individuals under 21 years following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. To identify genes, pathways and cell types driving MIS-C, we sequenced the blood transcriptomes of MIS-C cases, pediatric cases of coronavirus disease 2019, and healthy controls. We define a MIS-C transcriptional signature partially shared with the transcriptional response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and with the signature of Kawasaki disease, a clinically similar condition. By projecting the MIS-C signature onto a co-expression network, we identified disease gene modules and found genes downregulated in MIS-C clustered in a module enriched for the transcriptional signatures of exhausted CD8 + T-cells and CD56 dim CD57 + NK cells. Bayesian network analyses revealed nine key regulators of this module, including TBX21 , a central coordinator of exhausted CD8 + T-cell differentiation. Together, these findings suggest dysregulated cytotoxic lymphocyte response to SARS-Cov-2 infection in MIS-C.

Abstract sourced from PubMed (NCBI) for the cited record. See the original publication for the authoritative version.

Publication typePreprintJournal Article

Summary

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) presents with fever, inflammation and multiple organ involvement in individuals under 21 years following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

Why This Matters for Hirudotherapy

This study sequenced blood transcriptomes from patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), pediatric COVID-19 cases, and healthy controls. The authors identified a MIS-C transcriptional signature and found that downregulated genes clustered in a module enriched for exhausted CD8+ T-cell and CD56dim CD57+ NK cell signatures, with Bayesian network analyses identifying nine key regulators including TBX21. The findings suggest dysregulated cytotoxic lymphocyte responses in MIS-C. This article has no discernible connection to hirudotherapy, leech therapy, the leech secretome, or any related topic within ASH's domain. Caveat: No leeches or leech-derived compounds are involved; this study is entirely irrelevant to ASH's research library.

Citation

Cytotoxic lymphocytes are dysregulated in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children

Beckmann ND et al. · medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences, 2020

DOI

Added to ASH library: May 27, 2026 · Site last updated: June 18, 2026

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