ArticleEuropean archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery2022
Correlations between IL-6 serum level and olfactory dysfunction severity in COVID-19 patients: a preliminary study.
Article in European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
19 citing papers in PubMed, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evaluating methods for quantitative olfactory assessment: a comparative longitudinal analysis of Sniffin' Sticks and alternative tools.Chemical senses · 2026Article
- Identification of genes associated with smell dysfunction in Parkinson's disease.Clinical parkinsonism & related disorders · 2026Article
- Olfactory Dysfunction in Patients With Acetylcholine-Receptor-Antibody-Positive Myasthenia Gravis.Journal of clinical neurology (Seoul, Korea) · 2025Article
- IL-6 and Olfactory Dysfunction: Focus on Changes, Effects, and Mechanisms.Mediators of inflammation · 2025Review
- Long-term olfactory loss post-COVID-19: Pathobiology and potential therapeutic strategies.World journal of otorhinolaryngology - head and neck surgery · 2024Review
- Vaccination and Antiviral Treatment Reduce the Time to Negative SARS-CoV-2 Swab: A Real-Life Study.Viruses · 2023Article
- SARS-Cov-2 Cycle Threshold Value and Olfactory Dysfunction in COVID-19 Patients.Iranian journal of otorhinolaryngology · 2023Article
- Article
- The immune mechanism of the nasal epithelium in COVID-19-related olfactory dysfunction.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- The Trajectories of Olfactory Dysfunction from the First to the Omicron Wave: Are We Getting over it?Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Post-Viral Olfactory Loss: What We Learned from the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Two-Year Follow-Up on Chemosensory Dysfunction and Adaptive Immune Response after Infection with SARS-CoV-2 in a Cohort of 44 Healthcare Workers.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19: pathology and long-term implications for brain health.Trends in molecular medicine · 2022Review
- Results from psychophysical tests of smell and taste during the course of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a review.Acta otorhinolaryngologica Italica : organo ufficiale della Societa italiana di otorinolaringologia e chirurgia cervico-facciale · 2022Review
- The Effects of Persistent Olfactory and Gustatory Dysfunctions on Quality of Life in Long-COVID-19 Patients.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Clinical characteristics and short-term recovery of hyposmia in hospitalized non-severe COVID-19 patients with Omicron variant in Shanghai, China.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Article
- Predictive factors of smell recovery in a clinical series of 288 coronavirus disease 2019 patients with olfactory dysfunction.European journal of neurology · 2021Article
- Correlations Between Olfactory Psychophysical Scores and SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load in COVID-19 Patients.The Laryngoscope · 2021Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
17 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundInterleukin 6 (IL-6) is a proinflammatory cytokine that is secreted by cells infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and it is widely recognized as a negative prognostic factor. The purpose of this study was to analyze the correlations between the olfactory scores determined by psychophysical tests and the serum levels of IL-6 in patients affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
methodsPatients underwent psychophysical olfactory assessment with Connecticut Chemosensory Clinical Research Center test and IL-6 plasma level determination within 10 days of the clinical onset of COVID-19.
resultsSeventy-four COVID-19 patients were included in this study. COVID-19 staged as mild in 34 patients, moderate in 26 and severe in 14 cases. There were no significant differences in olfactory scores across the different COVID-19 severity groups. In the patient series, the median plasma level of IL-6 was 7.7 pg/mL (IQR 3.7-18.8). The concentration of IL-6 was found to be significantly correlated with the severity of COVID-19 with a directly proportional relationship. The correlation between IL-6 plasma concentrations and olfactory scores was weak (r
conclusionsIn COVID-19 patients, psychophysical olfactory scores did not show significant correlations with the plasma levels of a well-recognized negative prognostic factor such as IL-6. This observation casts some shadows on the positive prognostic value of olfactory dysfunctions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.