Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Jul:111:102452.
doi: 10.1016/j.jaut.2020.102452. Epub 2020 Apr 10.

Can we use interleukin-6 (IL-6) blockade for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-induced cytokine release syndrome (CRS)?

Bingwen Liu  1 , Min Li  2 , Zhiguang Zhou  1 , Xuan Guan  3 , Yufei Xiang  4
Affiliations
Review

Can we use interleukin-6 (IL-6) blockade for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-induced cytokine release syndrome (CRS)?

Bingwen Liu et al. J Autoimmun. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

The emergent outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a global pandemic. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and multiorgan dysfunction are among the leading causes of death in critically ill patients with COVID-19. The elevated inflammatory cytokines suggest that a cytokine storm, also known as cytokine release syndrome (CRS), may play a major role in the pathology of COVID-19. However, the efficacy of corticosteroids, commonly utilized antiinflammatory agents, to treat COVID-19-induced CRS is controversial. There is an urgent need for novel therapies to treat COVID-19-induced CRS. Here, we discuss the pathogenesis of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-induced CRS, compare the CRS in COVID-19 with that in SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and summarize the existing therapies for CRS. We propose to utilize interleukin-6 (IL-6) blockade to manage COVID-19-induced CRS and discuss several factors that should be taken into consideration for its clinical application.

Keywords: Coronavirus disease 2019; Cytokine release syndrome; Interleukin-6; Tocilizumab.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest No potential conflicts of interest relevant to this review were reported.

References

    1. WHO . 2020. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report – 67.
    1. Zhou P., Yang X.L., Wang X.G., Hu B., Zhang L., Zhang W. A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin. Nature. 2020;579:270–273. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Turner A.J., Hiscox J.A., Hooper N.M. ACE2: from vasopeptidase to SARS virus receptor. Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 2004;25:291–294. - PMC - PubMed
    1. T. Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Emergency Response Epidemiology Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Emergency Response Epidemiology. [The epidemiological characteristics of an outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) in China] Zhonghua Liuxingbingxue Zazhi. 2020;41:145–151. - PubMed
    1. Yang X., Yu Y., Xu J., Shu H., Xia J., Liu H. Clinical course and outcomes of critically ill patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a single-centered, retrospective, observational study. Lancet Respir Med. 2020 doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(20)30079-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms