Delayed mucosal anti-viral responses despite robust peripheral inflammation in fatal COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: While inflammatory and immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection in peripheral blood are extensively described, responses at the upper respiratory mucosal site of initial infection are relatively poorly defined. We sought to identify mucosal cytokine/chemokine signatures that distinguished COVID-19 severity categories, and relate these to disease progression and peripheral inflammation. METHODS: We measured 35 cytokines and chemokines in nasal samples from 274 patients hospitalised with COVID-19. Analysis considered the timing of sampling during disease, as either the early (0-5 days post-symptom onset) or late (6-20 days post-symptom onset). RESULTS: Patients that survived severe COVID-19 showed IFN-dominated mucosal immune responses (IFN-γ, CXCL10 and CXCL13) early in infection. These early mucosal responses were absent in patients that would progress to fatal disease despite equivalent SARS-CoV-2 viral load. Mucosal inflammation in later disease was dominated by IL-2, IL-10, IFN-γ, and IL-12p70, which scaled with severity but did not differentiate patients who would survive or succumb to disease. Cytokines and chemokines in the mucosa showed distinctions from responses evident in the peripheral blood, particularly during fatal disease. CONCLUSIONS: Defective early mucosal anti-viral responses anticipate fatal COVID-19 but are not associated with viral load. Early mucosal immune responses may define the trajectory of severe COVID-19.

Early mucosal events promote distinct mucosal and systemic antibody responses to live attenuated influenza vaccine.

Compared to intramuscular vaccines, nasally administered vaccines have the advantage of inducing local mucosal immune responses that may block infection and interrupt transmission of respiratory pathogens. Live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) is effective in preventing influenza in children, but a correlate of protection for LAIV remains unclear. Studying young adult volunteers, we observe that LAIV induces distinct, compartmentalized, antibody responses in the mucosa and blood. Seeking immunologic correlates of these distinct antibody responses we find associations with mucosal IL-33 release in the first 8 hours post-inoculation and divergent CD8+ and circulating T follicular helper (cTfh) T cell responses 7 days post-inoculation. Mucosal antibodies are induced separately from blood antibodies, are associated with distinct immune responses early post-inoculation, and may provide a correlate of protection for mucosal vaccination. This study was registered as NCT04110366 and reports primary (mucosal antibody) and secondary (blood antibody, and nasal viral load and cytokine) endpoint data.