IL-6: from arthritis to CAR-T-cell therapy and COVID-19.
Blockade of IL-6 function by an anti-IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) antibody (tocilizumab, trade name Actemra) has been shown to be effective for the treatment of chronic autoimmune inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis. Interestingly, treatment with tocilizumab has also been found to alleviate the cytokine storm induced by chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T-cell therapy. Patients with serious cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exhibit cytokine release syndrome (CRS), which suggested that tocilizumab might be an effective therapeutic for serious cases of COVID-19. In the first part of this short review, the therapeutic effect of tocilizumab for the disease induced by IL-6 overproduction is described. CRS induced by CAR-T-cell therapy and COVID-19 is then discussed.
['Kishimoto|Tadamitsu|T|']
D001168:Arthritis D000086382:COVID-19 D064987:Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy D000080424:Cytokine Release Syndrome D006801:Humans D015850:Interleukin-6 D000076962:Receptors, Chimeric Antigen D000086402:SARS-CoV-2
tocilizumab cytokine storm cytokine release syndrome