The role of the thymus in COVID-19 disease severity: implications for antibody treatment and immunization

Figures & data

Table 1. The effect of aging on thymus cytokine production

Increase with aging	Leukemia inhibitor factor (LIF), oncostatin M (OSM) and stem cell factor (SCF).
Decrease with aging	IL-2, IL-9, IL-10, IL-13 and IL-14.

Table 2. Immune profile in aging compared to that seen in COVID-19 patients

	COVID-19 patients	Aging
Immune cell profile
Total T cell number	↓	↓
Total CD8 + T cell number	↓↓	↓↓
Total CD4 + T cell number	↓	↓
T reg profile	↓	↑ naturally occurring, ↓ inducible
B cell number	Normal	↓
NK cell number	Normal	↓
Cytokine profile
IL-2	↑	↓ or normal
IL-6	↑	↑ or normal
IL-8	↑	↑ or normal
IL-10	↑	↓ or normal
TNF-A	↑	↑ or normal
IFN-γ	↑	↑ or normal