Interferon Deficiency Is Associated with Severe COVID-19

When specific cell sensors recognize the presence of viral RNA, a chain reaction occurs: interferons are produced, they bind to receptors on the cell surface, and this binding leads to activation of hundreds of genes that block the ability of viruses to multiply and spread. Two international teams examined the type I interferon system in people with COVID-19.

One team studied 1193 people with either severe disease or mild/asymptomatic disease. They found that loss-of-function mutations in 13 genes in the type I interferon pathway were significantly more common in the group with severe disease than in those with mild disease. The mutations involved the cell sensors, the structure of the interferons, and the interferon receptor on the cell sur…