SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: is interleukin-6 (IL-6) the 'culprit lesion' of ARDS onset? What is there besides Tocilizumab? SGP130Fc

Magro, Giuseppe

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 many studies have been published showing possible therapies, here the author discusses the end of stage disease related drugs, like Tocilizumab which is currently being used in ARDS patients. In some patients, disease progression leads to an enormous secretion of cytokines, known as cytokine storm, among those cytokines IL-6 plays an important role. Here the author shows how IL-6 has both pro and anti-inflammatory properties, depending on the pathway of transduction: soluble (trans-signaling) or membrane-related (classic signaling), and suggests how targeting only the pro-inflammatory pathway, with SGP130Fc, could be a better option then targeting them both. Other possible IL-6 pathway inhibitors such as Ruxolitinib and Baricinitib are then analyzed, underlying how they lack the benefit of targeting only the pro-inflammatory pathway.