Interferon deficiency can lead to severe COVID-19

On October 23, 2020, two coronavirus research papers were published in the journal Science, revealing the important role of type I interferon (IFN) deficiency in patients with severe COVID-19 [10, 11].

These two papers reported the important role of type I interferon (IFN) deletion in patients with severe COVID-19 from two perspectives: at least 3.5% of patients with severe COVID-19 had autosomal genetic mutations associated with type I interferon; At least 10% of patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia have autoneutralizing antibodies against type I interferon.

These two research findings are very important. First, novel Coronavirus infection can be screened to predict the tendency of patients to develop severe pneumonia by detecting IFN I related genes and autoneutralizing antibody levels. Second, the findings provide an option for therapeutic interventions, including plasmapheresis.