Fig. 3: Virological and cellular characteristics of the ISG^high and ISG^low COVID-19 lung profiles.

a Correlation of viral load and ISG expression in COVID-19 lungs. Solid lines connect sample points from the same patient. The dotted line shows a regression for all samples, and the gray area delimits the 95% confidence intervals around it (Pearson’s correlation = 0.83, adjusted R-squared = 0.68, p-value = 1.66e−08). b Representative immunohistochemistry for SARS-CoV-2 on ISG^high and ISG^low COVID-19 lung samples and controls. Size bar 100 μm. At least two different tissue blocks from different areas of the lungs were evaluated for each case. c Frequencies of immune cells on ISG^high and ISG^low COVID-19 lung sections and controls. (n = 33 for CD3 and CD8, n = 32 for CD68, n = 30 for CD163). Box-plots elements indicate the median (center line), upper, and lower quartiles (box limits). Whiskers extend to the most extreme value included in 1.5× interquartile range. Groups were compared using a two-sided Wilcoxon rank-sum test. d Representative H&E stains and immunohistochemistry (CD3, CD8, CD68, CD163) of ISG^high and ISG^low COVID-19 lungs and controls, size bar 500 μm. At least two different tissue blocks from different areas of the lungs were evaluated for each case. ISG^high samples, red; ISG^low samples, blue.