Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection: Role of interleukin-6 and the inflammatory cascade.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Bahmani, Mohaddeseh Chegini, Rojin Ghanbari, Elham Sheykhsaran, Elham Shiri Aghbash, Parisa Leylabadlo, Hamed Ebrahimzadeh Moradian, Ehsan Kazemzadeh Houjaghan, Amir Masoud Bannazadeh Baghi, Hossein
Copyright Year	2022
Abstract	Since December 2019, a novel coronavirus that represents a serious threat to human lives has emerged. There is still no definite treatment for severe cases of the disease caused by this virus, named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). One of the most considered treatment strategies targets the exaggerated immune regulator, and interleukin (IL)-6 is a crucial pro-inflammatory mediator. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) cases show an elevated level of IL-6 related to disease severity. IL-6 activity can be inhibited by the following: IL-6 itself, IL-6 signaling pathways such as Janus kinase and signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT), gp130, IL-6R, and downstream activated ILs, such as IL-17 and IL-6 cytokine. Currently, according to these studies and their results, IL-6 blockade with anti-IL-6 or its receptor antibodies such as tocilizumab in COVID-19 is beneficial in severe cases and may reduce the mortality rate. JAK-STAT inhibitors block the cytokine storm by inhibiting several crucial pro-inflammatory mediators such as TNF-α and IL-6 and have shown various results in clinical trials. IL-6 induces IL-17 secretion, and IL-17 is involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory processes. Clinical trials of anti-IL-17 drugs are currently recruiting, and anti-gp130 antibody is preclinical. However, this agent has shown positive effects in inflammatory bowel disease clinical trials and could be tested for SARS-CoV-2. This study aimed to review the role of IL-6 in the cytokine storm and studies regarding IL-6 and blockade of its inflammatory pathways in COVID-19 to determine if any of these agents are beneficial for COVID-19 patients.
Related Links	https://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC9150027&blobtype=pdf
Volume Number	11
DOI	10.5501/wjv.v11.i3.113
PubMed Central reference number	PMC9150027
Issue Number	3
PubMed reference number	35665236
Journal	World Journal of Virology [World J Virol]
e-ISSN	22203249
Language	English
Publisher	Baishideng Publishing Group Inc
Publisher Date	2022-05-01
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Subject Keyword	Anti-interleukin-6 COVID-19 Inflammation Interleukin-6 Interleukin-6 receptor SARS-CoV-2
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Virology