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
. 2024 Oct 26;13(21):6414.
doi: 10.3390/jcm13216414.

Effect of Statins and Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System Inhibitors on IL-6 Levels in COVID-19 Patients

Laura Pereckaite  1 , Neringa Vaguliene  2 , Agne Vitkauskaite  3 , Astra Vitkauskiene  1 , Daiva Urboniene  1
Affiliations

Effect of Statins and Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System Inhibitors on IL-6 Levels in COVID-19 Patients

Laura Pereckaite et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Severe clinical course and mortality from COVID-19 are mostly associated with increased concentrations of IL-6 and IL-10. Findings from clinical trials suggest that both statins and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors (RAASI) might have the potential to reduce unfavorable outcomes in patients with COVID-19. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of statins and RAASI on the cytokine concentrations in COVID-19 patients. Methods: SARS-CoV-2 infected patients were enrolled in this study, and demographic, clinical, and routine laboratory data were evaluated. Plasma cytokine levels were measured by multiplex assay. Results: COVID-19 patients with chronic cardiovascular diseases (CVD) had significantly lower median plasma IL-6 levels than COVID-19 patients with no co-morbidities (26 vs. 53 pg/mL, p = 0.021). COVID-19 patients with CVD who were taking statins had significantly lower median concentrations of IL-6 (21 vs. 44 pg/mL, p = 0.027), TNFα (21 vs. 39.5 pg/mL, p = 0.036), and IL-10 (19 vs. 25.5 pg/mL, p = 0.025) compared to COVID-19 patients with no CVD. In a binary logistic regression model, IL-6 was a significant variable, with an odds ratio value of 0.961 (95% CI 0.929-0.995). Regarding RAASI, only plasma IL-6 (22 vs. 44 pg/mL, p = 0.012) levels were found to be significantly lower in COVID-19 patients with CVD consuming these medications compared to patients who did not have any CVD. Conclusions: COVID-19 patients who had chronic cardiovascular co-morbidities and who were administered statins or RAASI had significantly lower concentrations of IL-6 than COVID-19 patients who did not have any co-morbidities. These findings suggest that the use of statins or RAASI may be of value in COVID-19 patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; IL-6; SARS-CoV-2; cardiovascular co-morbidities; medication; renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system inhibitors; statins.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of plasma IL-6 concentrations in COVID-19 patients with cardiovascular co-morbidities, without co-morbidities, and in healthy controls. Horizontal lines in graphs correspond to medians. * p < 0.05.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of plasma IL-6 concentrations in COVID-19 patients without chronic CVD, with chronic CVD but without statin administration, and with both chronic CVD and statin administration. Horizontal lines in graphs correspond to medians. * p < 0.05.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of plasma TNFα concentrations in COVID-19 patients without chronic CVD, with chronic CVD but without statin administration, and with both chronic CVD and statin administration. Horizontal lines in graphs correspond to medians. * p < 0.05.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Distribution of plasma IL-10 concentrations in COVID-19 patients without chronic CVD, with chronic CVD but without statin administration, and with both chronic CVD and statin administration. Horizontal lines in graphs correspond to medians. * p < 0.05.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Distribution of plasma IL-6 concentrations in COVID-19 patients without chronic CVD, with chronic CVD but without RAASI administration, and with both chronic CVD and RAASI administration. Horizontal lines in graphs correspond to medians. * p < 0.05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Maecker H.T. Immune profiling of COVID-19: Preliminary findings and implications for the pandemic. J. ImmunoTherapy Cancer. 2021;9:e002550. doi: 10.1136/jitc-2021-002550. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Liu B.M., Martins T.B., Peterson L.K., Hill H.R. Clinical significance of measuring serum cytokine levels as inflammatory biomarkers in adult and pediatric COVID-19 cases: A review. Cytokine. 2021;142:155478. doi: 10.1016/j.cyto.2021.155478. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pawlos A., Niedzelski M., Gorzelak-Pabis P., Broncel M., Wozniak E. COVID-19: Direct and Indirect Mechanisms of Statins. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021;22:4177. doi: 10.3390/ijms22084177. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Coperchini F., Chiovato L., Ricci G., Croce L., Magri F., Rotondi M. The cytokine storm in COVID-19: Further advances in our understanding the role of specific chemokines involved. Cytokine Growth Factor Rev. 2021;58:82–91. doi: 10.1016/j.cytogfr.2020.12.005. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Udomsinprasert W., Jittikoon J., Sangroongruangsri S., Chaikledkaew U. Circulating Levels of Interleukin-6 and Interleukin-10, but Not Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha, as Potential Biomarkers of Severity and Mortality for COVID-19: Systematic Review with Meta-analysis. J. Clin. Immunol. 2021;41:11–22. doi: 10.1007/s10875-020-00899-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources