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
. 2022 Jun 30:12:922422.
doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.922422. eCollection 2022.

Cytokine Profiles Associated With Acute COVID-19 and Long COVID-19 Syndrome

Maria Alice Freitas Queiroz  1 , Pablo Fabiano Moura das Neves  2 , Sandra Souza Lima  1 , Jeferson da Costa Lopes  1   3 , Maria Karoliny da Silva Torres  1   3 , Izaura Maria Vieira Cayres Vallinoto  1   3 , Carlos David Araújo Bichara  1   3 , Erika Ferreira Dos Santos  3   4 , Mioni Thieli Figueiredo Magalhães de Brito  4 , Andréa Luciana Soares da Silva  4 , Mauro de Meira Leite  3   4 , Flávia Póvoa da Costa  3   4 , Maria de Nazaré do Socorro de Almeida Viana  3   4 , Fabíola Brasil Barbosa Rodrigues  3   4 , Kevin Matheus Lima de Sarges  3   4 , Marcos Henrique Damasceno Cantanhede  3   4 , Rosilene da Silva  3   4 , Clea Nazaré Carneiro Bichara  2 , Ana Virgínia Soares van den Berg  2 , Adriana de Oliveira Lameira Veríssimo  5 , Mayara da Silva Carvalho  5 , Daniele Freitas Henriques  6 , Carla Pinheiro Dos Santos  6 , Juliana Abreu Lima Nunes  7 , Iran Barros Costa  7 , Giselle Maria Rachid Viana  8 , Francisca Regina Oliveira Carneiro  2 , Vera Regina da Cunha Menezes Palacios  2 , Juarez Antonio Simões Quaresma  2 , Igor Brasil-Costa  7 , Eduardo José Melo Dos Santos  3 , Luiz Fábio Magno Falcão  2 , Antonio Carlos Rosário Vallinoto  1
Affiliations

Cytokine Profiles Associated With Acute COVID-19 and Long COVID-19 Syndrome

Maria Alice Freitas Queiroz et al. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. .

Abstract

The duration and severity of COVID-19 are related to age, comorbidities, and cytokine synthesis. This study evaluated the impact of these factors on patients with clinical presentations of COVID-19 in a Brazilian cohort. A total of 317 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were included; cases were distributed according to clinical status as severe (n=91), moderate (n=56) and mild (n=170). Of these patients, 92 had acute COVID-19 at sample collection, 90 had already recovered from COVID-19 without sequelae, and 135 had sequelae (long COVID syndrome). In the acute COVID-19 group, patients with the severe form had higher IL-6 levels (p=0.0260). In the post-COVID-19 group, there was no significant difference in cytokine levels between groups with different clinical conditions. In the acute COVID-19 group, younger patients had higher levels of TNF-α, and patients without comorbidities had higher levels of TNF-α, IL-4 and IL-2 (p<0.05). In contrast, patients over age 60 with comorbidities had higher levels of IL-6. In the post-COVID-19 group, subjects with long COVID-19 had higher levels of IL-17 and IL-2 (p<0.05), and subjects without sequelae had higher levels of IL-10, IL-6 and IL- 4 (p<0.05). Our results suggest that advanced age, comorbidities and elevated serum IL-6 levels are associated with severe COVID-19 and are good markers to differentiate severe from mild cases. Furthermore, high serum levels of IL-17 and IL-2 and low levels of IL-4 and IL-10 appear to constitute a cytokine profile of long COVID-19, and these markers are potential targets for COVID-19 treatment and prevention strategies.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; cytokines; long COVID-19; risk factor.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cytokine levels according to different clinical manifestations of COVID-19. Comparison of cytokine levels (A) IL-17, (B) IFN-y, (C) TNF-a, (D) IL-10, (E) IL-6, (F) IL-4 and (G) IL-2, between patients with acute COVID-19 and individuals in the post-COVID-19 period. Mann-Whitney test.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cytokine profiles in acute and post-COVID-19 syndrome. Comparison of cytokine levels of patients with severe and mild/moderate COVID-19 and post- COVID-19. Mild/Mod: mild/moderate. Mann-Whitney Test. (A) IL-17, (B) IFN-y, (C) TNF-a, (D) IL-10, (E) IL-6, (F) IL-4 and (G) IL-2.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Correlation of IL-6 levels and age in acute COVID-19. Correlation of all patients and patients with mild/moderate and severe forms of the disease.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Cytokine profile in the long COVID-19. Comparison of cytokine levels (A) IL-17, (B) IFN-y, (C) TNF-a, (D) IL-10, (E) IL-6, (F) IL-4 and (G) IL-2, between individuals with and without post-COVID-19 symptoms (sequelae). Mann-Whitney test.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Correlogram of cytokine levels evaluated in long COVID-19. *p<0.01; **p<0.001 and ***p<0.0001
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Post-COVID-19 syndrome: in it for the long haul. (2021). EBioMedicine 67, 103424. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2021.103424 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Abdallah S. J., Voduc N., Corrales-Medina V. F., McGuinty M., Pratt A., Chopra A., et al. . (2021). Symptoms, Pulmonary Function, and Functional Capacity Four Months After COVID-19. Ann. Am. Thorac. Soc 18, 1912–1917. doi: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202012-1489RL - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Augustin M., Schommers P., Stecher M., Dewald F., Gieselmann L., Gruell H., et al. . (2021). Post-COVID Syndrome in non-Hospitalised Patients With COVID-19: A Longitudinal Prospective Cohort Study. Lancet Reg. Health Eur. 6, 100122. doi: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100122 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bergamaschi L., Mescia F., Turner L., Hanson A. L., Kotagiri P., Dunmore B. J., et al. . (2021). Longitudinal Analysis Reveals That Delayed Bystander CD8+ T Cell Activation and Early Immune Pathology Distinguish Severe COVID-19 From Mild Disease. Immunity 54, 1257–1275. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2021.05.010 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bichara C. D. A., da Silva Graça Amoras E., Vaz G. L., da Silva Torres M. K., Queiroz M. A. F., do Amaral I. P. C., et al. . (2021. b). Dynamics of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG Antibodies Post-COVID-19 in a Brazilian Amazon Population. BMC Infect. Dis. 21, 443. doi: 10.1186/s12879-021-06156-x - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types