ArticleThe Journal of clinical investigation2020
Impaired immune cell cytotoxicity in severe COVID-19 is IL-6 dependent.
Article in The Journal of clinical investigation, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 344 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
344 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 531 citations in OpenAlex.
- Genetics of COVID-19 and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: a systematic review.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2022Pooled it
- Human memory T cell dynamics after aluminum-adjuvanted inactivated whole-virion SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on cellular immunity and inflammatory markers in COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU.Scientific reports · 2022Trial
- Next-generation natural killer cell therapy: bench to bedside and beyond.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Integrating Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein IgG, IL-6, and NK Cell Percentage with Routine Laboratory Markers for COVID-19 Severity Assessment: Development and Validation of the CORIS Nomogram.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- High Frequencies of Senescent and Exhausted Natural Killer Cells and SARS-CoV-2-Specific Memory CD8Viruses · 2026Article
- Functional Profile of γδ T Cells in Severe and Moderate COVID-19: A Brazilian Cross-Sectional Study.Cells · 2026Article
- Exosome-like nanoparticles from the Okinawan medicinal plantBiomedical reports · 2026Article
- Article
- Challenges in the standardization of innate immune status assessment.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Phenotypic Alterations of CD8+ and CD8- CD56+ NK Cell Subsets in Moderate and Severe COVID-19 Disease.Journal of immunology research · 2026Article
- Identification of Shared Gene Signatures Associated with Alzheimer's Disease and COVID-19 through Bioinformatics Analysis.Combinatorial chemistry & high throughput screening · 2026Article
- T-cell exhaustion and antibody response in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine recipients.Revista peruana de medicina experimental y salud publica · 2025Article
- Effector CD8 T cell differentiation in primary and breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Chronic inflammation deters natural killer cell fitness and cytotoxicity in myeloid leukemia.Blood advances · 2025Article
- Systems immunology integrates the complex endotypes of recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa.Nature communications · 2025Article
- The identification of a SARs-CoV2 S2 protein derived peptide with super-antigen-like stimulatory properties on T-cells.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Expression of metabolic genes in NK cells is associated with clinical outcomes in patients with severe COVID-19: a brief report.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Article
- Clinical Features of COVID-19 Associated Pulmonary Aspergillosis: A Multicenter, Retrospective Study.The clinical respiratory journal · 2025Article
- Immune modulation: the key to combat SARS-CoV-2 induced myocardial injury.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
284 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
29 authors at 7 institutions in 7 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUNDCoronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is an emerging infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. Antiviral immune response is crucial to achieve pathogen clearance; however, in some patients an excessive and aberrant host immune response can lead to an acute respiratory distress syndrome. The comprehension of the mechanisms that regulate pathogen elimination, immunity, and pathology is essential to better characterize disease progression and widen the spectrum of therapeutic options.METHODSWe performed a flow cytometric characterization of immune cell subsets from 30 patients with COVID-19 and correlated these data with clinical outcomes.RESULTSPatients with COVID-19 showed decreased numbers of circulating T, B, and NK cells and exhibited a skewing of CD8+ T cells toward a terminally differentiated/senescent phenotype. In agreement, CD4+ T and CD8+ T, but also NK cells, displayed reduced antiviral cytokine production capability. Moreover, a reduced cytotoxic potential was identified in patients with COVID-19, particularly in those who required intensive care. The latter group of patients also showed increased serum IL-6 levels that inversely correlated to the frequency of granzyme A-expressing NK cells. Off-label treatment with tocilizumab restored the cytotoxic potential of NK cells.CONCLUSIONThe association between IL-6 serum levels and the impairment of cytotoxic activity suggests the possibility that targeting this cytokine may restore antiviral mechanisms.FUNDINGThis study was supported by funds from the Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine of University of Florence (the ex-60% fund and the "Excellence Departments 2018-2022 Project") derived from Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca (Italy).
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.