Swiss Study Validates That COVID-19 Causes T-Cell Dyshomeostasis and Long-Term Immune Damage
Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Nov 30, 2025 1 hour, 1 minute ago
Medical News: New research has uncovered a surprising and unsettling truth about what COVID-19 leaves behind inside the human immune system. Scientists have confirmed that many people continue to experience hidden immune disturbances long after recovering from the initial infection, with both CD4 and CD8 T cells showing altered behavior for up to a year or more. This
Medical News report highlights findings that help explain why some individuals develop lingering inflammation or symptoms associated with long COVID.
New research reveals COVID-19 triggers months of hidden T-cell immune imbalance.
Researchers from the Center for Human Immunology at the University of Zurich, the Department of Immunology at University Hospital Zurich, the Department of Quantitative Biomedicine at the University of Zurich, and the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Science at the University of Zurich conducted an intensive analysis of how SARS-CoV-2 disrupts immune homeostasis. Their work shows that COVID-19 does not simply cause short-term immune activation but instead creates a prolonged and abnormal state known as T-cell dyshomeostasis.
The Hidden Immune Imbalance After Infection
The study found that even six to twelve months after infection, many patients showed elevated levels of CD25 and CD122 on T cells, markers of heightened activation. At the same time, levels of CD127, a receptor necessary for normal immune balance, were significantly reduced. These changes were most prominent in people who experienced moderate to severe illness.
One of the most striking discoveries was that both SARS-CoV-2 specific T cells and unrelated bystander T cells shared similar disturbances. This suggests that the entire T-cell network becomes destabilized, not just the cells that directly fight the virus. Elevated inflammatory molecules such as IL-7 and IL-15 remained in the bloodstream for months, continuously stimulating T cells and preventing the immune system from returning to a calm, balanced state.
Links to Long COVID and Chronic Inflammation
The research team also discovered that individuals reporting long COVID symptoms had noticeably higher CD25 levels even 12 months after infection. This indicates ongoing immune activation and supports the growing theory that long COVID may be driven by persistent low-grade inflammation and disrupted immune signaling.
The findings further show that the body’s T-cell pool shrinks during acute infection, allowing homeostatic cytokines like IL-7 and IL-15 to accumulate. These cytokines then push T cells into an overactive mode, sustaining the abnormal receptor patterns observed months after recovery.
What These Findings Mean
These results reveal how COVID-19 can leave a long-lasting footprint on the immune system. The prolonged disruption of T-cell receptor balance could explain persistent fatigue, inflammation, or delayed immune recovery seen in many post-COVID patients. Understanding this prolonged T-cell dyshomeostasis will also help guid
e development of future immunotherapies and vaccines, as individual immune history clearly shapes responsiveness. Recognizing that even clinically recovered individuals may carry months of immune imbalance is crucial for properly managing long-term outcomes.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Nature Communications.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-66753-1
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Read Also:
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/coronavirus
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/long-covid
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