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elevated interleukin-6 serum levels in pregnant women with coronavirus disease 2019
Syarifuddin D.R.
Gazzetta Medica Italiana Archivio Per Le Scienze Mediche
Q4Abstract
BACKGROUND: The potential impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the health of expectant mothers and fetuses has strained attention. Pregnant women are considered a vulnerable category to respiratory infections. Moreover, several inflammatory cytokines are 2-100 times more abundant in COVID-19 with cytokine storm than in normal individuals; interleukin 6 (IL-6) exhibits much higher elevations. The aim of this study was to investigate potential relationships between IL-6 serum levels and severity of COVID-19 symptoms in pregnant women.METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 62 pregnant women who met the eligibility criteria were divided into two groups: those who tested positive for COVID-19 (N.=31) and those who tested negative (N.=31). The participants were selected through consecutive sampling. The concentration of IL-6 in the blood sample was measured using ELISA methods.RESULTS: The COVID-19 positive group had a higher median IL-6 serum level (45.35 [35.15-153.99] vs. 38.86±11.43 [15.02-59.52], P=0.03) than the negative group. On the other hand, the IL-6 serum level had comparable value according to the COVID-19 symptoms severity (88.35±36.14 ng/mL vs. 51.09±25.48 ng/mL vs. 56.02±33.20 ng/mL in moderate symptoms, mild symptoms, and asymptomatic, respectively; P=0.152).CONCLUSIONS: Although the IL-6 serum levels are not related to COVID-19 symptoms severity, an elevated of this biomarker was found in pregnant women with affected diagnoses.