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Review
. 2021 Jan;42(1):3-5.
doi: 10.1016/j.it.2020.10.012. Epub 2020 Nov 2.

A Potential Role of Interleukin 10 in COVID-19 Pathogenesis

Ligong Lu  1 , Hui Zhang  2 , Danielle J Dauphars  3 , You-Wen He  4
Affiliations
Review

A Potential Role of Interleukin 10 in COVID-19 Pathogenesis

Ligong Lu et al. Trends Immunol. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

A unique feature of the cytokine storm in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the dramatic elevation of interleukin 10 (IL-10). This was thought to be a negative feedback mechanism to suppress inflammation. However, several lines of clinical evidence suggest that dramatic early proinflammatory IL-10 elevation may play a pathological role in COVID-19 severity.

Keywords: COVID-19; IL-10; IL-6; cytokine storm; mortality; pathogenesis; proinflammation.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The Proinflammatory and Immune-Activating Role of IL-10 in Humans. Recombinant (r)IL-10 or elevated endogenous systemic IL-10 stimulates inflammatory cytokine production and directly activates and promotes effector CD8+ T cell proliferation. The combined effect may play a detrimental role in COVID-19 pathogenesis. Abbreviations: CD4/CD8, CD4+/CD8+ T cells; DC, dendritic cell; MHC, major histocompatibility complex; NK cell, natural killer cell; TCR, T cell receptor.
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