ArticlePsychoneuroendocrinology2021
Interleukin-6 as potential mediator of long-term neuropsychiatric symptoms of COVID-19.
Article in Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06940609 (Magnetic Resonance Analysis of Neural Inflammatory Factors and External Stimulation), which is not on this map. Cited by 78 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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.
Magnetic Resonance Analysis of Neural Inflammatory Factors and External Stimulation (MANIFEST)
Who cites it
78 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 147 citations in OpenAlex.
- Persistent inflammatory cytokine signature in long Covid-19 patients: a meta-analysis.Inflammopharmacology · 2026Pooled it
- Long-term neurological and cognitive impact of COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis in over 4 million patients.BMC neurology · 2025Pooled it
- The global prevalence of depression, anxiety, and sleep disorder among patients coping with Post COVID-19 syndrome (long COVID): a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Increased interleukin-6 is associated with long COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2023Pooled it
- COVID-19 convalescent plasma therapy decreases inflammatory cytokines: a randomized controlled trial.Microbiology spectrum · 2024Trial
- The Effect of Potassium Canrenoate (Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonist) on the Markers of Inflammation in the Treatment of COVID-19 Pneumonia and Fibrosis-A Secondary Analysis of Randomized Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Trial
- Cost-effectiveness of plasmapheresis and hemoperfusion in COVID-19 survivors: A six-month follow-up analysis after hospital discharge.Therapeutic apheresis and dialysis : official peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Apheresis, the Japanese Society for Apheresis, the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy · 2026Article
- Choroid plexus alterations in long COVID and their associations with IL-6.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Understanding the long-term neurological effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2026Review
- Immune Dysregulation and Persistent Symptoms: Insights into T Cell Dynamics in Post-COVID among Athletes from the CoSmo-S Study.Journal of clinical immunology · 2026Article
- IL-6 Receptor Antagonists and Severe Post-COVID-19 Outcomes: An Emulated Target Trial.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Association between influenza A virus and SARS-CoV-2 infections and mood disorders.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Sex Differences in Metabolite-Immune Circuits of Neuroinflammation.Immunological reviews · 2026Review
- Longitudinal modeling of Post-COVID-19 condition over three years: A machine learning approach using clinical, neuropsychological, and fluid markers.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Toward characterizing brain fog in long COVID: correlates and impact on measurement metrics.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Plasma proteomic profile reveals persistent immune activation in post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Acute SARS-CoV-2 viral load and systemic inflammation are associated with neuropsychiatric and musculoskeletal symptoms in long COVID.PloS one · 2026Article
- Article
- Comparable Immune Alterations and Inflammatory Signatures in ME/CFS and Long COVID.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Relationship between body mass index, gray matter volume and peripheral inflammation in patients with post-COVID condition.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
18 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The majority of COVID-19 survivors experience long-term neuropsychiatric symptoms such as fatigue, sleeping difficulties, depression and anxiety. We propose that neuroimmune cross-talk via inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) could underpin these long-term COVID-19 symptoms. This hypothesis is supported by several lines of research, including population-based cohort and genetic Mendelian Randomisation studies suggesting that inflammation is associated with fatigue and sleeping difficulties, and that IL-6 could represent a possible causal driver for these symptoms. Immune activation following COVID-19 can disrupt T helper 17 (T
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.