Interleukin-37 and Procalcitonin Role in Disease Severity of Covid-19 Iraqi Patients

Abstract

Corona-Virus Disease 2019 or what is today known as (COVID 19) is caused by a novel virulent virus belong to coroniviridae and leads to potentially fatal respiratory symptoms that are very similar to the severe respiratory distress syndrome. Different types of cytokines are showed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of this disease. Interleukin-37, often known as IL-37, is an anti-inflammatory cytokine that has been implicated in the modulation of immune responses in a variety of inflammatory illnesses. On the other hand, one of the most important complications of covid-19 was the secondary bacterial infections (SBIs). Procalcitonin (PCT) has been widely investigated as a biomarker for the secondary bacterial infection, especially its unique ability for distinguishing viral from bacterial infection. Hence, the present study was performed to examine the levels of IL-37 and the inflammatory marker procalcitonin (PCT) in serum of 207 patients with COVID-19 who were classified according to their disease severity into asymptomatic, mild and sever patients. Serum levels of IL-37 were significantly (Probability =0.01) decreased while serum levels of PCT were significantly (Probability=0.01) increased in sever patients as compared to other subgroups. In conclusion, the down-regulated of IL-37 in serum of patients with COVID-19 may be related to the elevated PCT levels among the same patients and this in turn may be related to an increase of disease severity.