An interferon‐γ‐related cytokine storm in SARS patients

Abstract

Fourteen cytokines or chemokines were analyzed on 88 RT-PCR-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patients. IFN-gamma, IL-18, TGF-beta, IL-6, IP-10, MCP-1, MIG, and IL-8, but not of TNF-alpha, IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, IL-13, or TNFRI, were highly elevated in the acute phase sera of Taiwan SARS patients. IFN-gamma was significantly higher in the Ab(+) group than in the Ab(-) group. IFN-gamma, IL-18, MCP-1, MIG, and IP-10 were already elevated at early days post fever onset. Furthermore, levels of IL-18, IP-10, MIG, and MCP-1 were significantly higher in the death group than in the survival group. For the survival group, IFN-gamma and MCP-1 were inversely associated with circulating lymphocytes count and monocytes count, but positively associated with circulating neutrophils count. It is concluded that an interferon-gamma-related cytokine storm was induced post SARS coronavirus infection, and this cytokine storm might be involved in the immunopathological damage in SARS patients.

Natural Killer Cells Are Involved in Acute Lung Immune Injury Caused by Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection

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Distinctive TLR7 Signaling, Type I IFN Production, and Attenuated Innate and Adaptive Immune Responses to Yellow Fever Virus in a Primate Reservoir Host

“…For instance, higher levels of proinflammatory mediators are seen in people with fatal hemorrhagic YFV infections compared with people experiencing less severe infections (15). Indeed, a more exuberant early immune response is often associated with more severe disease following zoonotic infections, such as SARS coronavirus, dengue virus, hantavirus, chikungunya virus, and the 1918 influenza A virus strain (73)(74)(75)(76)(77). The precise mediators of immunopathologic responses seen in nonnatural hosts following zoonotic viral infections may differ in different hosts and different infections, and many cytokine pathways (e.g., type I IFN) may well play both beneficial and detrimental roles in the host response to infection.…”

Quantitative Analysis of Cytokine mRNA Expression and Protozoan DNA Load in Theileria parva-Infected Cattle

“…These results suggest that both the types of infected cells and related cytokines could be associated with pathogenesis of ECF. Recently, it has been reported that the cytokine storms in humans are strongly associated with high mortality and increased severity of disease in several fatal infections such as malaria [8], severe acute respiratory syndrome [12], Ebola virus infection [2] and highly pathogenic avian influenza [26]. Among these diseases, main causative cytokines for the cytokine storm seem to be pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β IL-6 and TNF-α.…”