Interleukin 6 (IL-6) in Patient with COVID-19 Infection: The Cross-Sectional Study

To update data published in the article “Leukocytes Parameters, CRP, and Ferritin in Iranian Patients with COVID-19 Infection; A Cross-sectional Study” in Iranian Journal of Medical Microbiology. 2021,15(3): 361-368 (1), we analyzed the IL-6 parameter in the article mentioned above’s statistical population (2, 3). Here, we share our new findings as a Letter to the editor. SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus 2 or 2019-nCoV) can cause Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) (4). Many inflammatory cytokines are released in the body of patients with CRS due to leucocyte activation (5). IL-6 is a chemokine that has increased in CRS. Also, IL-6 stimulates the secretion of acute-phase proteins, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin, and fibrinogen, and inhibits albumin synthesis (6). Therefore, the increased IL-6 is a potential candidate as a biomarker for SARS-CoV-2 detection.