Fig. 3

Increased antigen-specific response to selected SARS-CoV-2 antigens in whole-blood is associated with COVID-19. A IL-2 production induced by Spike stimulation. B IFN-γ production induced by Spike stimulation. C IP-10 production induced by Spike stimulation. D RANTES production induced by NP Pool1 stimulation. E IP-10 production induced by NP Pool2 stimulation. F IL-2 production induced by ORF3a stimulation. The different immune factors were measured by luminex assay in plasma collected after stimulating whole-blood with the different antigens. The horizontal lines represent the median; statistical analysis was performed using the Mann–Whitney test, and p value was considered significant when  ≤  0.05. NP nucleoprotein, IL interleukin; IP interferon-γ inducible protein; IFN interferon, RANTES regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted