PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Leonard H. Calabrese
AU  - Cassandra Calabrese
TI  - Cytokine release syndrome and the prospects for immunotherapy with COVID-19. Part 2: The role of interleukin 1
AID  - 10.3949/ccjm.87a.ccc044
DP  - 2020 Jul 09
TA  - Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
4099  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/early/2020/07/01/ccjm.87a.ccc044.short
4100  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/early/2020/07/01/ccjm.87a.ccc044.full
AB  - Interleukin 1 (IL-1) is a potential target of therapy in COVID-19 during the severe respiratory-inflammatory phase (“cytokine release syndrome”), when pulmonary macrophages are hyperactivated, releasing IL-1 and other cytokines. Preliminary evidence indicates that anakinra and canakinumab, drugs that block the action of IL-1 and have a good safety profile, improve the outcomes of patients with COVID-19 cytokine release syndrome. Results from large, randomized clinical trials are pending.