Serum levels of interleukin-6 are linked to the severity of the disease caused by Andes Virus

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2017 Jul 14;11(7):e0005757. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005757. eCollection 2017 Jul.

Abstract

Andes virus (ANDV) is the etiological agent of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome in Chile. In this study, we evaluated the profile of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-12p70, IL-21, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-10 and IL-6 in serum samples of ANDV-infected patients at the time of hospitalization. The mean levels of circulating cytokines were determined by a Bead-Based Multiplex assay coupled with Luminex detection technology, in order to compare 43 serum samples of healthy controls and 43 samples of ANDV-infected patients that had been categorized according to the severity of disease. When compared to the controls, no significant differences in IL-1β concentration were observed in ANDV-infected patients (p = 0.9672), whereas levels of IL-12p70 and IL-21 were significantly lower in infected cases (p = <0.0001). Significantly elevated levels of TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-10, and IL-6 were detected in ANDV-infected individuals (p = <0.0001, 0.0036, <0.0001, <0.0001, respectively). Notably, IL-6 levels were significantly higher (40-fold) in the 22 patients with severe symptoms compared to the 21 individuals with mild symptoms (p = <0.0001). Using multivariate regression models, we show that IL-6 levels has a crude OR of 14.4 (CI: 3.3-63.1). In conclusion, the serum level of IL-6 is a significant predictor of the severity of the clinical outcome of ANDV-induced disease.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Age Distribution
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Chile / epidemiology
  • Cytokines / blood
  • Disease Progression*
  • Female
  • Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome / blood*
  • Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome / epidemiology*
  • Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome / physiopathology
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Interleukin-6 / blood*
  • Logistic Models
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Orthohantavirus
  • Risk Factors
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Sex Distribution
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Cytokines
  • IL6 protein, human
  • Interleukin-6

Grants and funding

The study was funded by the Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica de Chile (CONICYT) [http://www.conicyt.cl/] through grants CONICYT PIA ACT1408 and FONDECYT 1161197, and the Iniciativa Científica Milenio [http://www.iniciativamilenio.cl/] del Ministerio de Economía, Fomento y Turismo [Proyecto P09/016-F, Instituto Milenio de Inmunología e Inmunoterapia, IMII]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.