ArticleForensic science, medicine, and pathology2022
Cytokine storm and histopathological findings in 60 cases of COVID-19-related death: from viral load research to immunohistochemical quantification of major players IL-1β, IL-6, IL-15 and TNF-α.
Article in Forensic science, medicine, and pathology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 54 papers, 2 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
54 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome and reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome in patients with COVID-19 infection: is there a link? A systematic review and case report analysis.Journal of neurology · 2023Pooled it
- Research progress on serological indices and their clinical application in rheumatoid arthritis.Journal of clinical laboratory analysis · 2022Pooled it
- Therapeutic plasma exchange accelerates immune cell recovery in severe COVID-19.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Trial
- Takayasu Arteritis in a Middle-aged Woman Following Prolonged Subsequent Fever after COVID-19 Infection: An Early Diagnosis Using Contrast-enhanced CT.Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan) · 2026Article
- Cardiovascular burden of long coronavirus disease: Clinical challenges and emerging biomarkers.World journal of cardiology · 2026Review
- Acute SARS-CoV-2 viral load and systemic inflammation are associated with neuropsychiatric and musculoskeletal symptoms in long COVID.PloS one · 2026Article
- Investigating the contribution of circulating inflammatory cytokines on the link between obesity and COVID-19.Adipocyte · 2025Article
- Cytokine Storm Induction Linked to Multi-Organ Failure in Fatal Jellyfish Stings.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Clinical autopsy: methodological applications and scientific perspectives in post-mortem diagnostics.Pathologica · 2025Article
- Hypoxia Exacerbates Inflammatory Signaling in Human Coronavirus OC43-Infected Lung Epithelial Cells.Biomolecules · 2025Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on Ocular Surface Health: Infection Mechanisms, Immune Modulation, and Inflammatory Responses.Viruses · 2025Review
- The fibrin-derived peptide FX06 protects human pulmonary endothelial cells against the COVID-19-triggered cytokine storm.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Cardiovascular damage and comorbidities related to long COVID: pathomechanisms, prevention, and therapy.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2025Review
- Predictive Role and Clinical Value of Serum Cytokines in COVID-19.Infectious diseases & clinical microbiology · 2024Article
- Characterization model of the post COVID-19 condition based on immunological, biochemical, and cytokine markers.iScience · 2024Article
- Cytokines from SARS-CoV-2 Spike-Activated Macrophages Hinder Proliferation and Cause Cell Dysfunction in Endothelial Cells.Biomolecules · 2024Article
- IL-10 Counteracts IFN-γ to Alleviate Acute Lung Injury in a Viral-Bacterial Superinfection Model.American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology · 2024Article
- Long non-coding RNAs in biomarking COVID-19: a machine learning-based approach.Virology journal · 2024Article
- Impacts of Inflammatory Cytokines Variants on Systemic Inflammatory Profile and COVID-19 Severity.Journal of epidemiology and global health · 2024Article
- Immunohistochemical and Morphometric Analysis of Lung Tissue in Fatal COVID-19.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
19 authors at 8 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This study involves the histological analysis of samples taken during autopsies in cases of COVID-19 related death to evaluate the inflammatory cytokine response and the tissue localization of the virus in various organs. In all the selected cases, SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR on swabs collected from the upper (nasopharynx and oropharynx) and/or the lower respiratory (trachea and primary bronchi) tracts were positive. Tissue localization of SARS-CoV-2 was detected using antibodies against the nucleoprotein and the spike protein. Overall, we tested the hypothesis that the overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines plays an important role in the development of COVID-19-associated pneumonia by estimating the expression of multiple cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, IL-15, TNF-α, and MCP-1), inflammatory cells (CD4, CD8, CD20, and CD45), and fibrinogen. Immunohistochemical staining showed that endothelial cells expressed IL-1β in lung samples obtained from the COVID-19 group (p < 0.001). Similarly, alveolar capillary endothelial cells showed strong and diffuse immunoreactivity for IL-6 and IL-15 in the COVID-19 group (p < 0.001). TNF-α showed a higher immunoreactivity in the COVID-19 group than in the control group (p < 0.001). CD8 + T cells where more numerous in the lung samples obtained from the COVID-19 group (p < 0.001). Current evidence suggests that a cytokine storm is the major cause of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and multiple organ failure and is consistently linked with fatal outcomes.
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.