ArticleInternational immunopharmacology2020
Correlation between premorbid IL-6 levels and COVID-19 mortality: Potential role for Vitamin D.
Article in International immunopharmacology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 3 of them syntheses 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.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Vitamin C and COVID-19 treatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Diabetes & metabolic syndromePooled it
- "Vitamin D supplementation and COVID-19 treatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis".Diabetes & metabolic syndromePooled it
- Association of Vitamin D Supplementation with Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx) Activity, Interleukine-6 (IL-6) Levels, and Anxiety and Depression Scores in Patients with Post-COVID-19 Condition.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Control of type 2 diabetes in patients with cancer and chronic pro-inflammatory cytokines during the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of medicine and life · 2025Article
- Comparison of the role of vitamin D in normal organs and those affected by COVID-19.International journal of medical sciences · 2025Review
- Immunomodulatory Effects of Vitamin D and Zinc on Viral Infection.Biological trace element research · 2025Review
- Relationship of thyroid parameters with chronic inflammation in patients with euthyroid type 2 diabetes.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Article
- Vitamin D/vitamin D receptor, autophagy, and infection.Zhong nan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Central South University. Medical sciences · 2022Article
- Vitamin D: The Missing Nutrient Behind the Two Deadly Pandemics, COVID-19 and Cardiovascular Diseases.Cureus · 2022Review
- Vitamin D, infections and immunity.Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders · 2022Review
- Association of interferon gamma inducible protein-10, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha, interleukin-6, and rs12252 single nucleotide polymorphism of interferon-induced transmembrane protein-3 gene with the severity of COVID-19 infection.The Egyptian journal of internal medicine · 2022Article
- The m7G Modification Level and Immune Infiltration Characteristics in Patients with COVID-19.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2022Article
- Relationship Between Plasma Vitamin C and COVID-19 Susceptibility and Severity: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Article
- Intake of Vitamin D in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis in the Valencian Region and Its Possible Relationship with the Pathogenesis of the Disease.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- The Vitamin D, IL-6 and the eGFR Markers a Possible Way to Elucidate the Lung-Heart-Kidney Cross-Talk in COVID-19 Disease: A Foregone Conclusion.Microorganisms · 2021Article
- Clinical Utility of Midregional Proadrenomedullin in Patients with COVID-19.Laboratory medicine · 2021Observational
- In-depth review of cardiopulmonary support in COVID-19 patients with heart failure.World journal of cardiology · 2021Review
- COVID-19 and IL-6: Why vitamin D (probably) helps but tocilizumab might not.European journal of pharmacology · 2021Review
- Effects of vitamin D on macrophages and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) hyperinflammatory response in the lungs of COVID-19 patients.Cellular immunology · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
There is recent evidence that interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels are elevated in cases of complicated COVID-19, but it is also possible that this cytokine may have a far more important role in the pathogenesis of viral infection. IL-6 is known to be modulated by Vitamin D, and there is preliminary evidence that deficiency of this vitamin is linked to poorer outcomes. To identify whether IL-6 levels prior to infection might predict outcome, early data on COVID-19 mortality from Italy and the UK were compared with previously published results of mean IL-6 levels from these countries as well as from the USA. There was a highly significant correlation (r = 0.9883; p = 0.00025) between age-stratified mortality rates and IL-6 levels from previously published data on healthy individuals. To determine whether Vitamin D may be beneficial at lowering IL-6 levels in patients, a limited analysis of trials examining the relationship between these entities published since 2015 was undertaken. Eight out of 11 studies described a significant lowering effect of Vitamin D on IL-6. Given that IL-6 likely facilitates viral cell entry and replication, levels prior to infection may predict mortality. This provides a rationale for prophylactic and therapeutic measures directed at lowering IL-6, including Vitamin D prescription.
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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.