Of the DEGs that overlapped between healthy and COVID-19 PBMCs, 17 were upregulated, among which IL1R2, whereas the genes encoding for the cytokine tumor necrosis factor superfamily member 15 (TNFSF15) and ACOD1 were downregulated by dexamethasone (29, 54, 55). This evidence concerns the gene IL1R2 and COVID-19.