Longitudinal assessment of IFN-I activity and immune profile in critically ill COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome

Background Since the onset of the pandemic, only few studies focused on longitudinal immune monitoring in critically ill COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) whereas their hospital stay may last for several weeks. Consequently, the question of whether immune parameters may drive or associate with delayed unfavorable outcome in these critically ill patients remains unsolved. Methods We present a dynamic description of immuno-inflammatory derangements in 64 critically ill COVID-19 patients including plasma IFN alpha 2 levels and IFN-stimulated genes (ISG) score measurements. Results ARDS patients presented with persistently decreased lymphocyte count and mHLA-DR expression and increased cytokine levels. Type-I IFN response was initially induced with elevation of IFN alpha 2 levels and ISG score followed by a rapid decrease over time. Survivors and non-survivors presented with apparent common immune responses over the first 3 weeks after ICU admission mixing gradual return to normal values of cellular markers and progressive decrease of cytokines levels including IFN alpha 2. Only plasma TNF-alpha presented with a slow increase over time and higher values in non-survivors compared with survivors. This paralleled with an extremely high occurrence of secondary infections in COVID-19 patients with ARDS. Conclusions Occurrence of ARDS in response to SARS-CoV2 infection appears to be strongly associated with the intensity of immune alterations upon ICU admission of COVID-19 patients. In these critically ill patients, immune profile presents with similarities with the delayed step of immunosuppression described in bacterial sepsis.