Boston VA Healthcare System, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, 1400 VFW Parkway, West Roxbury, MA, 02132, United States.
Cytokine Growth Factor Rev. 2021 Apr;58:49-50. doi: 10.1016/j.cytogfr.2020.10.005. Epub 2020 Oct 23.
Previous studies of SARS-CoV-2 viral infection suggest that both the humoral and cytotoxic arms of the immune system are weak in patients with severe COVID-19 disease when compared to mild disease. A cytokine storm is also induced in severe disease. IL-15 has been shown to support the cytotoxic arm of the immune response. IL-21 has been shown to support both the cytotoxic and humoral arms of the immune response. In addition, in some settings, Il-21 has been shown to actually decrease IL-6 and TNF-alpha production, reducing the inflammatory proteins involved in the cytokine storm. Furthermore, in other settings, the combination of IL-15 and IL-21 has been shown to be more effective than either interleukin alone in promoting an effective immune response. Therefore, a clinical trial that examines the use of the combination of IL-15 and IL-21 for COVID-19 patients is warranted.
先前关于 SARS-CoV-2 病毒感染的研究表明，与轻症患者相比，重症 COVID-19 患者的体液免疫和细胞毒性免疫都较弱。在重症疾病中也会引发细胞因子风暴。IL-15 已被证明可支持免疫反应的细胞毒性免疫。IL-21 已被证明可支持免疫反应的细胞毒性和体液免疫。此外，在某些情况下，IL-21 已被证明实际上可以减少 IL-6 和 TNF-α的产生，从而减少细胞因子风暴中涉及的炎症蛋白。此外，在其他情况下，IL-15 和 IL-21 的联合使用已被证明比单独使用任何一种白介素更能有效地促进有效的免疫反应。因此，有必要对 COVID-19 患者使用 IL-15 和 IL-21 联合治疗进行临床试验。
