Further validation on leukocytes of COVID-19 patients (GEO: GSE157103) classified as severe (37) or non-severe (51) based on ICU admission, demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 infected patients admitted to the ICU exhibited a significant increase in the expression of NLRP3 as compared to non-severe COVID-19 patients (Fig 1D). The gene discussed is NLRP3; the disease is COVID-19.