Fig. 5

Immune switch during the course of disease in severe and deceased patients, as determined by multiparameter profiling of circulating immune cells. A PCA of samples analyzed near admission (Sample 1, left panel) and near discharge or death (Sample 2, right panel). Mild, moderate, severe survivor, and severe deceased outcomes were assigned values 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Serum testosterone values of samples collected in the same or nearby dates (± 3 days) were included in the analysis. The indicated immune subpopulations are defined by cell-surface markers and determined by spectral flow cytometry (Materials and methods). B Heatmap of correlation coefficients between immune subpopulation values and outcomes, for near-admission (Sample 1, left Heatmap) and near-discharge/death (Sample 2, right Heatmap) samples. Spearman multivariant correlation analyses were performed for all parameters vs. outcomes, the resulting coefficients normalized for each column (range, 0 to 1) and used to build heatmaps. C–F Between-outcome comparisons of immune cell subpopulation: CD4+ (C); natural killer, dendritic, and monocyte (D); CD8+ (E); and B (F) cell subpopulations. G Survivor (mild, moderate, severe survivor) vs. deceased patient comparisons for T cell (CD4+ and CD8+) and dendritic cells and monocytes. Such comparisons were not significant for other immune subpopulations (B cells, NK cells)