Age-related differences in the immune response could contribute to determine the spectrum of severity of COVID-19

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), can present with a wide spectrum of severity. Elderly patients with cardiac, pulmonary and metabolic comorbidities are more likely to develop the severe manifestations of COVID-19, which are observed in less than 5% of the pediatric patients. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is able to induce an immune impairment and dysregulation, finally resulting in the massive release of inflammatory mediators, strongly contributing to the pulmonary and systemic manifestations in COVID-19. In children, the immune dysregulation following SARS-CoV-2 can also be responsible of a severe disease phenotype defined as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. As the immune system undergoes a complex process of maturation from birth to adult age, differences in the immune and inflammatory response could have a significant impact in determining the spectrum of severity of COVID-19. Indeed, children show a higher ability to respond to viral infections and a reduced baseline pro-inflammatory state compared with elderly patients. Age and comorbidities contribute to disease severity through immune-mediated mechanisms, since they are associated with a chronic increase of pro-inflammatory mediators, and cause an enhanced susceptibility to develop an immune dysregulation following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Also the expression of ACE2, the receptor of SARS-CoV-2, varies with age, and is linked to the immune and inflammatory response through a complex, and not completely elucidated, network. This paper reviews the peculiar immunopathogenic aspects of COVID-19, with a focus on the differences between adult and pediatric patients.