Cienciaes.com: COVID-19 and the interleukins of Dublin and Boston

by time news

2020-11-03 21:57:01

A recent contribution due to efforts to investigate the disease COVID-19 has made it possible to establish a new measure that makes it possible to achieve a certain degree of prediction about the clinical evolution of each patient COVID-19. This parameter has been called the Dublin-Boston score.

This score is achieved by determining the levels of two interleukins (also called cytokines) in the blood, IL-6 and IL-10, and calculating their ratio. The higher this is, the worse the prognosis for the evolution of the disease and the more likely it is that the patient will have to be admitted to intensive care and need mechanical ventilation. Knowing this well in advance is important to take the necessary measures aimed at adequately caring for all patients.

To understand the function of IL-6 and IL-10, it is necessary to take into account that most cells of the immune system never directly detect enemies trying to invade the body. The information that an infection is in progress is provided by interleukin molecules. These are produced, in a first phase, by cells of the so-called innate immune system that do directly detect microorganisms.

Early in the immune response, cytokines are produced that promote inflammation and activation of the immune system. IL-6 blood levels are markedly increased in patients with COVID-19. As a treatment for this disease, antibodies against this cytokine, not against the virus, have even been used to stop excessive activation that leads to an inflammatory cytokine storm, which can cause thrombi and death.

On the other hand, the cytokine IL-10, produced, among other cells, by regulatory T lymphocytes, works as a brake on excessive activation, which causes the aforementioned problems.

Researchers from several hospitals in Dublin and Boston decided to study whether the evolution of the relationship between the amount of IL-6 and IL-10 in blood in patients with COVID-19 could serve as an indicator of the evolution of the disease. They find that, measured every four days, the relationship between these levels can serve as a predictive value. Scientists develop a five-point scale in which each increase of one point increases the probability that the disease will progress to a serious state by just over five times.

The Dublin-Boston score is easy to measure in hospitalized patients and can help assess when it is necessary to increase the care and treatment applied to them, as well as help determine the success of these treatments.

Reference:
Oliver J McElvaney, et al. (2020). A linear prognostic score based on the ratio of interleukin-6 to interleukin-10 predicts outcomes in COVID-19.

Jorge Laborda, October 27, 2020.

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