ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: According to the World Health Organization, Mexico presents one of the highest mortality rates due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The "cytokine storm" phenomenon has been proposed as a pathological hallmark of severe COVID-19. OBJECTIVE: To determine the association of serum cytokine levels with COVID-19 severity. METHODS: We studied the cytokines IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, and the IFN-γ serum levels through flow cytometry in 56 COVID-19 patients (24 critical and 32 non-critical) from Northwest Mexico. RESULTS: We observed a significant increase in the IL-6 and the IL-10 levels in the sera of critical patients. These cytokines were also associated with mechanical ventilation necessity and death, IL-6 showing AUC values above 0.7 for both variables; and correlated with Na+, creatinine, and platelet levels. On the other hand, no association was found between IL-2, IL-4, TNF-α, and IFN-γ with tested variables. CONCLUSION: Our results corroborate previous observations regarding IL-6 and IL-10 involvement in the severity of COVID-19.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/blood , COVID-19/physiopathology , Interleukin-10/metabolism , Interleukin-6/metabolism , COVID-19/pathology , Cytokine Release Syndrome/blood , Cytokine Release Syndrome/pathology , Female , Humans , Interleukin-10/blood , Interleukin-6/blood , Male , Mexico , Patient AcuityABSTRACT
Interleukin-10 (IL-10) gene polymorphisms have been associated with severity and outcomes in patients with respiratory and nonrespiratory viral infections. The aim of this study was to assess whether rs1800871 and rs1800872 polymorphisms of IL-10 gene are associated with the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in a Mexican population. Study subjects were 193 COVID-19 patients. The genotyping was carried out with real-time PCR and serum IL-10 levels were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Logistic regression analysis was used for analysis association with clinical outcomes. There was no evidence of an association between alleles, genotypes, or haplotypes frequencies between patient groups according to severity and outcomes. The rs1800871 and rs1800872 polymorphisms might not be genetic risk factors for severity and mortality for COVID-19 in Mexican mestizos patients from northwest Mexico.