Division of Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Department of Medicine, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
J Med Virol. 2021 Jul;93(7):4559-4563. doi: 10.1002/jmv.26993. Epub 2021 Apr 13.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is globally rampant, and to curb the growing burden of this disease, in-depth knowledge about its pathophysiology is needed. This was an observational study conducted at a single center to investigate serum cytokine and chemokine levels of COVID-19 patients, based on disease severity. We included 72 consecutive COVID-19 patients admitted to our hospital from March 21 to August 31, 2020. Patients were divided into Mild-Moderate I (mild) and Moderate II-Severe (severe) groups based on the COVID-19 severity classification developed by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) of Japan. We compared the patient characteristics as well as the serum cytokine and chemokine levels on the day of admission between the two groups. Our findings indicated that the severe group had significantly higher levels of serum fibrinogen, d-dimer, lactate dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein, ferritin, Krebs von den Lungen-6, surfactant protein (SP)-D, and SP-A than the mild group. Strikingly, the levels of interleukin (IL)-28A/interferon (IFN)-λ2 were significantly lower in the severe group than in the mild group. We believe that reduced levels of type III interferons (IFN-λs) and alterations in the levels of other cytokines and chemokines may impact the severity of the disease.
新型冠状病毒病（COVID-19）在全球范围内肆虐，为了遏制这种疾病负担的不断增加，我们需要深入了解其病理生理学。这是一项在单一中心进行的观察性研究，旨在根据疾病严重程度研究 COVID-19 患者的血清细胞因子和趋化因子水平。我们纳入了 2020 年 3 月 21 日至 8 月 31 日期间我院收治的 72 例连续 COVID-19 患者。根据日本厚生劳动省（MHLW）制定的 COVID-19 严重程度分类，患者被分为轻度中度 I 组（轻症）和中度 II-重度组（重症）。我们比较了两组患者入院当天的特征以及血清细胞因子和趋化因子水平。研究结果表明，重症组患者的血清纤维蛋白原、D-二聚体、乳酸脱氢酶、C 反应蛋白、铁蛋白、Krebs von den Lungen-6、表面活性蛋白（SP）-D 和 SP-A 水平明显高于轻症组。值得注意的是，重症组患者的白细胞介素（IL）-28A/干扰素（IFN）-λ2 水平明显低于轻症组。我们认为，III 型干扰素（IFN-λs）水平降低以及其他细胞因子和趋化因子水平的改变可能会影响疾病的严重程度。
