ReviewBioDrugs : clinical immunotherapeutics, biopharmaceuticals and gene therapy2020
Potential Role of Anti-interleukin (IL)-6 Drugs in the Treatment of COVID-19: Rationale, Clinical Evidence and Risks.
Review in BioDrugs : clinical immunotherapeutics, biopharmaceuticals and gene therapy, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 66 citations in OpenAlex.
- Targeting Inflammatory Mediators in Epilepsy: A Systematic Review of Its Molecular Basis and Clinical Applications.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Pooled it
- Decreased serum levels of the inflammaging marker miR-146a are associated with clinical non-response to tocilizumab in COVID-19 patients.Mechanisms of ageing and development · 2021Trial
- Interleukin-6 in complications of prematurity: from biomarker to targeted therapy.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Review
- Investigating the impact of severe maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection on infant DNA methylation and neurodevelopment.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
- A comprehensive overview on the crosstalk between microRNAs and viral pathogenesis and infection.Medicinal research reviews · 2025Review
- Emerging Treatment Approaches for COVID-19 Infection: A Critical Review.Current molecular medicine · 2024Review
- COVID-19: A novel holistic systems biology approach to predict its molecular mechanisms (in vitro) and repurpose drugs.Daru : journal of Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences · 2023Article
- Repurposing clinically available drugs and therapies for pathogenic targets to combat SARS-CoV-2.MedComm · 2023Review
- Efficacy of Tocilizumab in Management of COVID-19 Patients Admitted to Intensive Care Units: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Article
- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants reduce COVID-19 infection: prospects for use.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2022Review
- The human genetic epidemiology of COVID-19.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2022Review
- Effect of tocilizumab versus standard of care in adults hospitalized with moderate-severe COVID-19 pneumonia.Medicina clinica (English ed.) · 2022Article
- Effect of tocilizumab versus standard of care in adults hospitalized with moderate-severe COVID-19 pneumonia.Medicina clinica · 2022Observational
- Modulation of Covid-19 cytokine storm by tocilizumab.Journal of medical virology · 2022Article
- Article
- The Safety of Continuous Infusion Propofol in Mechanically Ventilated Adults With Coronavirus Disease 2019.The Annals of pharmacotherapy · 2022Article
- Article
- In vitro induction of interleukin-8 by SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein is inhibited in bronchial epithelial IB3-1 cells by a miR-93-5p agomiR.International immunopharmacology · 2021Article
- Drug-based therapeutic strategies for COVID-19-infected patients and their challenges.Future microbiology · 2021Review
- Large-Scale Postmarketing Surveillance of Biological Drugs for Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases Through an Italian Distributed Multi-Database Healthcare Network: The VALORE Project.BioDrugs : clinical immunotherapeutics, biopharmaceuticals and gene therapy · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The epidemic due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has been spreading globally, raising increasing concerns. This public health emergency has triggered a race to find medications to improve the prognosis of this disease. There is currently great interest in drug repositioning to manage SARS-CoV-2 infection, that is, the evaluation of the potential benefits of a drug that has already been proven safe and effective in humans for other approved indications. As interleukin-6 (IL-6) acts as a key driver of the inflammation associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), IL-6 and IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) inhibition appear to be promising targets for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. It is important to critically analyze the available evidence concerning the use of the available anti-IL-6 (siltuximab) and anti-IL-6R (tocilizumab and sarilumab) agents in COVID-19 patients, in terms of both benefit and risk. In this review, the pathogenesis of the cytokine storm induced by COVID-19, the role of IL-6 in this cytokine storm, the rationale for the use of anti-IL-6 agents, and key information on potential benefits and safety monitoring of these biologicals in COVID-19 patients is discussed.
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Registered trials
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.