The lung and spleen tissue obtained from patients who died from COVID-19 exhibited higher densities of cells expressing NLRP3, IL-18, NF-κB and gasdermin D, and even HMGB-1, than age-matched controls who had died unexpectedly, but free of SARS-CoV-2-infection (13, 233). Here, NLRP3 is linked to COVID-19.