WHAT IS IL-6

IL-6 is an immune protein promptly and transiently produced in response to tissue damage and infections. On the other hand, IL-6 is also a pyrogen and is responsible for fever in autoimmune, infectious, or non-infectious diseases. IL-6 is produced in the body, wherever there is inflammation, either acute or chronic. This includes situations such as trauma, burns, cancers, and infection. (Thomas, 2021)

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IL-6 AND COVID-19

During the pandemic, scientists have explored the role of IL-6 as a predictor for patients with severe coronavirus disease.

Based on the finding that infection by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus induces a dose-dependent production of IL-6 from bronchial epithelial cells, a study involving nearly 11,000 patients discovered that treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients with drugs that block the effects of interleukin-6 reduces the risk of death and the need for mechanical ventilation. (Henderson, 2021)

According to the study, in hospitalized patients, administering the interleukin-6 antagonists (such as tocilizumab and sarilumab) in addition to corticosteroids reduces the risk of death by 17%, compared to the use of corticosteroids alone. In patients not on mechanical ventilation, the risk of mechanical ventilation or death is reduced by 21%, compared to the use of corticosteroids alone. (Henderson, 2021)

Some also conducted data analysis of COVID-19 cases at long-term care facilities in Slovakia Patients with hypoxemia had significantly higher concentrations of IL-6, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, fibrinogen, total bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase at initial screening among which IL-6 was identified as the most robust predictor of hypoxemia. (Sabaka et al., 2021)

Given the current situation of global vaccine inequity, people in the lowest income countries will be the ones most at risk of severe and critical COVID-19. Therefore, further work is necessary to clarify the exact role of IL-6 during coronavirus infections and the potential role of this cytokine to be used as a biomarker of viral virulence. Additional work exploring the potential therapeutic use of blocking IL-6 or different products affected by its activity might provide insight into controlling persistent COVID-19 infections. (Velazquez-Salinas et al., 2019)

BIOTIME IL-6

Biotime IL-6 is an in vitro diagnostic test for the quantitative determination of IL 6 in human serum or plasma. As researchers have pointed out a portion of severely ill COVID-19 patients experience rapid deterioration and need for mechanical ventilation due to development of ARDS. Being an unconventional way to address the issue, Biotime IL-6 can also be used to assist in identifying severe inflammatory response in patients with confirmed COVID 19 illness who need mechanical ventilation in conjunction with clinical findings.

References

Thomas, L. (2021). What is Interleukin 6?  [online] NEWS-MEDICAL. Available at: https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Interleukin-6.aspx [Accessed 26 Jul. 2021]

Henderson, E. (2021). Interleukin-6 antagonists benefit hospitalized patients with COVID-19 [online] NEWS-MEDICAL. Available at: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210707/Interleukin-6-antagonists-benefit-hospitalized-patients-with-COVID-19.aspx [Accessed 26 Jul. 2021]

Sabaka, P., Koščálová, A., Straka, I., Hodosy, J., Lipták, R., Kmotorková, B., Kachlíková, M. and Kušnírová, A. (2021). Role of interleukin 6 as a predictive factor for a severe course of Covid-19: retrospective data analysis of patients from a long-term care facility during Covid-19 outbreak. BMC Infectious Diseases, [online] Volume 21, P. 308. Available at: https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-021-05945-8#citeas [Accessed 27 Jul. 2021].

Velazquez-Salinas, L., Verdugo-Rodriguez, A., Rodriguez, L. and Borca, M., 2019. The Role of Interleukin 6 During Viral Infections. Frontiers in Microbiology, [online] 10. Available at: <https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01057/full> [Accessed 27 July 2021].