Cytokine . Aberrant cytokine expression in COVID-19 patients: Associations between cytokines and disease severity

[tetano]

Cytokine


. 2021 Mar 31;155523.
doi: 10.1016/j.cyto.2021.155523. Online ahead of print.
Aberrant cytokine expression in COVID-19 patients: Associations between cytokines and disease severity


Yueting Tang ¹ , Jiayu Sun ² , Huaqin Pan ³ , Fen Yao ⁴ , Yumeng Yuan ⁵ , Mi Zeng ⁶ , Guangming Ye ⁷ , Gui Yang ⁸ , Bokun Zheng ⁹ , Junli Fan ¹⁰ , Yunbao Pan ¹¹ , Ziwu Zhao ¹² , Shuang Guo ¹³ , Yinjuan Liu ¹⁴ , Fanlu Liao ¹⁵ , Yongwei Duan ¹⁶ , Xiaoyang Jiao ¹⁷ , Yirong Li ¹⁸



Affiliations

• PMID: 33840589
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cyto.2021.155523

Abstract

Cytokines play pleiotropic, antagonistic, and collaborative in viral disease. The high morbidity and mortality of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) make it a significant threat to global public health. Elucidating its pathogenesis is essential to finding effective therapy. A retrospective study was conducted on 71 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Data on cytokines, T lymphocytes, and other clinical and laboratory characteristics were collected from patients with variable disease severity. The effects of cytokines on the overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) of patients were analyzed. The critically severe and severe patients had higher infection indexes and significant multiple organ function abnormalities than the mild patients (P < 0.05). IL-6 and IL-10 were significantly higher in the critically severe patients than in the severe and mild patients (P < 0.05). IL-6 and IL-10 were closely associated with white blood cells, neutrophils, T lymphocyte subsets, D-D dimer, blood urea nitrogen, complement C1q, procalcitonin C-reactive protein. Moreover, the IL-6 and IL-10 levels were closely correlated to dyspnea and dizziness (P < 0.05). The patients with higher IL-10 levels had shorter OS than the group with lower levels (P < 0.05). The older patients with higher levels of single IL-6 or IL-10 tended to have shorter EFS (P < 0.05), while the patients who had more elevated IL-6 and IL-10 had shorter OS (P < 0.05). The Cox proportional hazard model revealed that IL-6 was the independent factor affecting EFS. IL-6 and IL-10 play crucial roles in COVID-19 prognosis.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cytokines; Disease severity; Survival; T lymphocyte.