A distinct innate immune signature marks progression from mild to severe COVID-19

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) manifests with a range of severities, but immune signatures of mild and severe disease are still not fully understood. Here, we use mass cytometry and targeted proteomics to profile the innate immune response of patients with mild or severe COVID-19 and of healthy individuals. Sampling at different stages allows us to reconstruct a pseudo-temporal trajectory of the innate response. A surge of CD169(+) monocytes associated with an IFN-γ(+)MCP-2(+) signature rapidly follows symptom onset. At later stages, we observe a persistent inflammatory phenotype in patients with severe disease, dominated by high CCL3 and CCL4 abundance correlating with the re-appearance of CD16(+) monocytes, whereas the response of mild COVID-19 patients normalizes. Our data provide insights into the dynamic nature of inflammatory responses in COVID-19 patients and identify sustained innate immune responses as a likely mechanism in severe patients, thus supporting the investigation of targeted interventions in severe COVID-19.