Fig. 6.

Blood TFH-like cells do not mirror the loss of TFH cells in lymph nodes in severe COVID-19.

(A) TFH cells (left) and CD4 + CTLs (right) were defined by surface markers including chemokine receptors and cytokine receptors. Dot plots display circulating T cell subsets as proportions of total CD4+ effector-memory T cells. Multiple comparisons are controlled for by Kruskal-Wallis test. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01. CRP = C-reactive protein. Conv = convalescent. (B) CD4 + CTL accumulation correlates with disease severity as assessed by CRP levels. (C) CD4+ T cell subsets in the peripheral blood of patients with COVID-19 at states of convalescence (n = 39), severe illness with an intermediate maximum CRP level during hospitalization (< 200 mg/L; severe (CRP int); n = 10), and severe illness with a high maximum CRP level during hospitalization (> 200 mg/L; severe (CRP hi); n = 11) as defined by the clinical criteria listed in supplementary Information Table 3. A. TH1, TH2, TH17 and Treg cells were defined by surface markers including chemokine receptors and cytokine receptors and not on the basis of transcription factors, hence the nomenclature with a suffix “-like”. Dot plots display circulating T cell subsets as proportions of total CD4+ effector-memory T cells. All p-values were calculated using the Kruskal-Wallis test to control for multiple comparisons. CRP = C-reactive protein. Conv = convalescent.