Interleukin-6 (IL-6) expression of lung tissue in COVID-19 patient severity through core biopsy post mortem

Introduction: In COVID-19 patients, Interleukin-6 (IL-6) will increase, and the production of antigens will be excessive, which will cause excessive inflammation of the tissues, especially the respiratory tract, which causes fibrosis in the lungs and can lead to death. Objective: To analyze IL-6 expression of lung tissue in COVID-19 patient severity. Methods: The study is an observational analytic design from July to December 2020. COVID-19 patient severity who died was examined for IL-6 expression on lung tissue. The lung tissue sampling uses the core biopsy method. Results: The total number of samples obtained was 38 samples. Characteristics of patients with a mean age of patients were 48 years, male, the most common chief complaint was shortness of breath, mean symptom onset was 5 days, patient length of stay was 10 days, the most common cause of death was a combination of septic shock and ARDS and the most common comorbid diabetes mellitus. There is an increased WBC, neutrophils, platelets, procalcitonin, CRP, BUN, creatinine serum, AST, ALT, and D-dimer. In this study, the average tissue IL- 6 expression was 72.63, with the highest frequency of strong positive 47.4%. Conclusion: An increase in IL-6 expression on lung tissue showed the severity of COVID-19 infection

Differences in interleukin-6 and interleukin-17 expression in covid-19 post-mortem lung tissue biopsy compared with noncovid- 19

Abstract: Background: COVID-19 has spread rapidly around the world. It is necessary to study lung tissue of postmortem COVID19 patients to determine the molecular alteration particularly the role of IL-6 and IL-17 in causing fatality. Objective: This study aims to determine the differences in the expressions of IL-6 and IL-17 in lung tissue of post-mortem COVID-19 patients compared to non-COVID-19 patients. This study also aimed to analyze the correlation between the expressions of IL-6 and IL-17 in lung tissue of post-mortem COVID-19 patients. Methods: This research is an observational analytic study with crosssectional approach. The samples were 15 paraffin blocks of post-mortem lung tissue biopsy of COVID-19 patients, and 15 paraffin blocks of inflammatory lung tissue biopsy or surgery of non-COVID-19 patients. IL-6 and IL-17 expressions were evaluated by immunohistochemical procedure. Result: There was a significant difference in the expression of IL-6 in the COVID-19 group and the non-COVID-19 group with a p-value = 0.001 (p < 0.05). There was a significant difference in the expression of IL-17 in the COVID-19 group and the non-COVID-19 group with p-value = 0.001 (p < 0.05). There was a significant correlation between the expressions of IL-6 and IL-17 in the COVID-19 group, with the Spearman coefficient value (rs) of 0.548 with p = 0.034 (p < 0.05). Conclusion: There are differences in the expression of IL-6 and IL-17 between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 lung tissue. There is a significant correlation between the expressions of IL-6 and IL-17 in post-mortem lung tissue of COVID-19 patients