Two distinct immunopathological profiles in autopsy lungs of COVID-19

Abstract

Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) is a respiratory disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has grown to a worldwide pandemic with substantial mortality. Immune mediated damage has been proposed as a pathogenic factor, but immune responses in lungs of COVID-19 patients remain poorly characterized. Here we show transcriptomic, histologic and cellular profiles of post mortem COVID-19 (n = 34 tissues from 16 patients) and normal lung tissues (n = 9 tissues from 6 patients). Two distinct immunopathological reaction patterns of lethal COVID-19 are identified. One pattern shows high local expression of interferon stimulated genes (ISG^high) and cytokines, high viral loads and limited pulmonary damage, the other pattern shows severely damaged lungs, low ISGs (ISG^low), low viral loads and abundant infiltrating activated CD8⁺ T cells and macrophages. ISG^high patients die significantly earlier after hospitalization than ISG^low patients. Our study may point to distinct stages of progression of COVID-19 lung disease and highlights the need for peripheral blood biomarkers that inform about patient lung status and guide treatment.