Hydroxychloroquine Inhibits the Trained Innate Immune Response to Interferons.
Nils Rother, Cansu Yanginlar, Rik G H Lindeboom, Siroon Bekkering, Mandy M T van Leent, Baranca Buijsers, Inge Jonkman, Mark de Graaf, Marijke Baltissen, Lieke A Lamers, Niels P Riksen, Zahi A Fayad, Willem J M Mulder, Luuk B Hilbrands, Leo A B Joosten, Mihai G Netea, Michiel Vermeulen, Johan van der Vlag, Raphaël Duivenvoorden
Author Information
Nils Rother: Department of Nephrology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Cansu Yanginlar: Department of Nephrology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Rik G H Lindeboom: Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Oncode Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Siroon Bekkering: Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Mandy M T van Leent: Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Baranca Buijsers: Department of Nephrology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Inge Jonkman: Department of Nephrology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Mark de Graaf: Department of Nephrology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Marijke Baltissen: Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Oncode Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Lieke A Lamers: Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Oncode Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Niels P Riksen: Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Zahi A Fayad: Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Willem J M Mulder: Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Luuk B Hilbrands: Department of Nephrology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Leo A B Joosten: Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Mihai G Netea: Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Michiel Vermeulen: Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Oncode Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Johan van der Vlag: Department of Nephrology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Raphaël Duivenvoorden: Department of Nephrology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Hydroxychloroquine is being investigated for a potential prophylactic effect in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, but its mechanism of action is poorly understood. Circulating leukocytes from the blood of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients show increased responses to Toll-like receptor ligands, suggestive of trained immunity. By analyzing interferon responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy donors conditioned with heat-killed , trained innate immunity can be modeled . In this model, hydroxychloroquine inhibits the responsiveness of these innate immune cells to virus-like stimuli and interferons. This is associated with a suppression of histone 3 lysine 27 acetylation and histone 3 lysine 4 trimethylation of inflammation-related genes, changes in the cellular lipidome, and decreased expression of interferon-stimulated genes. Our findings indicate that hydroxychloroquine inhibits trained immunity , which may not be beneficial for the antiviral innate immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients.