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The kinetics of the immune changes in COVID-19 across severity groups have not been rigorously assessed. Using immunophenotyping, RNA sequencing, and serum cytokine analysis, we analyzed serial samples from 207 SARS-CoV2-infected individuals with a range of disease severities over 12 weeks from symptom onset. An early robust bystander CD8+ T cell immune response, without systemic inflammation, characterized asymptomatic or mild disease. Hospitalized individuals had delayed bystander responses and systemic inflammation that was already evident near symptom onset, indicating that immunopathology may be inevitable in some individuals. Viral load did not correlate with this early pathological response but did correlate with subsequent disease severity. Immune recovery is complex, with profound persistent cellular abnormalities in severe disease correlating with altered inflammatory responses, with signatures associated with increased oxidative phosphorylation replacing those driven by cytokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin (IL)-6. These late immunometabolic and immune defects may have clinical implications.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/j.immuni.2021.05.010

Type

Journal

Immunity

Publication Date

06/2021

Volume

54

Pages

1257 - 1275.e8

Addresses

Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease, Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0AW, UK; Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK.

Keywords

Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease-National Institute of Health Research (CITIID-NIHR) COVID BioResource Collaboration, CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes, Humans, Disease Susceptibility, Reactive Oxygen Species, Inflammation Mediators, Cytokines, Prognosis, Severity of Illness Index, Longitudinal Studies, Gene Expression Profiling, Lymphocyte Activation, Oxidative Phosphorylation, Phenotype, Host-Pathogen Interactions, Transcriptome, Biomarkers, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2