Bagriacik Umit, Karakus Resul, Yaman Melek, Oruklu Nihan, Araz Milat, Kalayci Zafer, Ozger Hasan Selcuk, Yildiz Yesim, Senol Esin
Department of Immunology, Gazi University, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Türkiye.
Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Gazi University, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Türkiye.
PLoS One. 2025 May 2;20(5):e0321578. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0321578. eCollection 2025.
Interleukin 40 (IL-40) is a novel cytokine that has been associated with B lymphocytes, particularly IgA-secreting cells in gut mucosa. Considering mucosal association of IL-40, we aimed to determine serum IL-40 levels in patients with Covid-19. We compared IL-40 concentrations in healthy people to both patients with mild symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection and pneumonia. IL-40 was measured by ELISA. Serum IgA levels were tested by nephelometry. For the first time, we demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 infection increased serum IL-40 levels significantly. The elevation of IL-40 in serum was related to severity of the infection. Therefore, IL-40 concentrations were quite higher in patients with symptoms of pneumonia. Our findings indicated that IgA and NETosis biomarkers were related with IL-40 increase. Based on these findings, we speculated that IL-40 would be associated with immune activities in the mucosa of the lungs of SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. This association may be linked to a mechanism that has a control on IgA and NETosis.
J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2021-2
Iran J Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2025-2-13
JAMA Netw Open. 2024-4-1
Vaccines (Basel). 2023-10-27
Int J Mol Sci. 2022-12-13
Autophagy. 2023-3