ArticleBiomedicines2021
Post-COVID-19 Patients Who Develop Lung Fibrotic-like Changes Have Lower Circulating Levels of IFN-β but Higher Levels of IL-1α and TGF-β.
Article in Biomedicines, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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
46 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Cardiopulmonary crosstalk in Long COVID: a systematic review of emerging evidence.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2025Pooled it
- Diabetes mellitus increases the risk of post-COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis: a meta-analysis of observational studies.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Increased interleukin-6 is associated with long COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2023Pooled it
- Biomarkers in long COVID-19: A systematic review.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Cyclosporine A in hospitalized COVID-19 pneumonia patients to prevent the development of interstitial lung disease: a pilot randomized clinical trial.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Diagnostic Usefulness of SP-D, CCL2/MCP-1, and IL-18 in Assessing Respiratory Function and Risk of Pulmonary Fibrosis in COVID-19 Patients.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Review
- Cognition, Cytokines, Blood-Brain Barrier, and Beyond in COVID-19: A Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Scar wars: the viral menace.American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology · 2025Review
- Breathless Aftermath: Post-COVID-19 Pulmonary Fibrosis.Viruses · 2025Review
- Long COVID and Biomarker Dysregulation-A Shift Toward Immune Exhaustion?Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- Persistence of dysfunctional immune response 12 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection and their relationship with pulmonary sequelae and long COVID.Respiratory research · 2025Article
- CXCL9 and CXCL10 support the exacerbated humoral response in recovered COVID-19 patients who developed acute respiratory distress syndrome by promoting plasma cell differentiation, whereas CXCL9 also induces CD40L and CXCR3 upregulation on T helper cells.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Long-term pulmonary sequelae and convalescent immune reactions in mild to moderate COVID-19 patients during the active treatment era.PloS one · 2025Article
- Prospects for the Protective Mechanisms and Compounds of Bufei Huoxue Capsule against COVID-19 Convalescence: Evaluation of Integrating UHPLC-HRMS Analysis and Network Pharmacology Strategy.Combinatorial chemistry & high throughput screening · 2025Article
- Pathophysiological, immunological, and inflammatory features of long COVID.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Bilateral Avascular Necrosis of the Femoral Heads After COVID-19 Infection without Steroid Treatment.Current rheumatology reviews · 2024Article
- Possible mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2-associated myocardial fibrosis: reflections in the post-pandemic era.Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Review
- A blood-based mRNA signature distinguishes people with Long COVID from recovered individuals.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- Thromboinflammation in long COVID-the elusive key to postinfection sequelae?Journal of thrombosis and haemostasis : JTH · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeSARS-CoV-2 infection induces in some patients a condition called long-COVID-19, herein post-COVID-19 (PC), which persists for longer than the negative oral-pharyngeal swab. One of the complications of PC is pulmonary fibrosis. The purpose of this study was to identify blood biomarkers to predict PC patients undergoing pulmonary fibrosis. PATIENTS AND
methodsWe analyzed blood samples of healthy, anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccinated (VAX) subjects and PC patients who were stratified according to the severity of the disease and chest computed tomography (CT) scan data.
resultsThe inflammatory C reactive protein (CRP), complement complex C5b-9, LDH, but not IL-6, were higher in PC patients, independent of the severity of the disease and lung fibrotic areas. Interestingly, PC patients with ground-glass opacities (as revealed by chest CT scan) were characterized by higher plasma levels of IL-1α, CXCL-10, TGF-β, but not of IFN-β, compared to healthy and VAX subjects. In particular, 19 out of 23 (82.6%) severe PC and 8 out of 29 (27.6%) moderate PC patients presented signs of lung fibrosis, associated to lower levels of IFN-β, but higher IL-1α and TGF-β.
conclusionsWe found that higher IL-1α and TGF-β and lower plasma levels of IFN-β could predict an increased relative risk (RR = 2.8) of lung fibrosis-like changes in PC patients.
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