Th2/Th1 cytokine imbalance is associated with higher COVID-19 risk mortality. Th2/Th1 cytokine imbalance is associated with higher COVID-19 risk mortality

In this study we profiled 288 new serum proteomics samples measured at admission from patients hospitalized within the Mount Sinai Health System with positive SARS-CoV-2 infection. We first computed Th1 and Th2 pathway enrichment scores by gene set variation analysis and then compared the differences in Th2 and Th1 pathway scores between patients that died compared to those that survived. Overall design: We evaluated 288 new serum samples from hospitalized patients with a positive SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test in the Mount Sinai Health System from 03/01/20 to 06/07/20. Serum cytokines were profiled by Proseek Multiplex OLINK Proteomics as previously decribed. We computed enrichment scores for Th1 and Th2 immune pathways by gene set variation analysis, and modeled the Th2/Th1 balance as the difference between Th2 and Th1 enrichment scores.