What is it about?
Some COVID-19 patients develop a severe inflammatory condition known as cytokine storm. Cell signaling molecules known as cytokines play an important role in inflammation and regulation of the immune system. The inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL-6) can be extremely elevated in patients with COVID. Treatment with therapies aimed at reducing inflammation is an urgent area of research. The anti-inflammatory steroid dexamethasone has been shown to decrease the risk of death in patients with severe COVID-19, and medications that block IL-6 are under investigation.
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Why is it important?
IL-6 and other inflammatory markers help predict which patients will need mechanical ventilation and are at higher risk of death. Patients with high risk of mechanical ventilation and death likely benefit the most from early intervention with anti-inflammatory therapy.
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Confronting the controversy: Interleukin-6 and the COVID-19 cytokine storm syndrome, European Respiratory Journal, September 2020, European Respiratory Society (ERS),
DOI: 10.1183/13993003.03006-2020.
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