Transient plasma cell dyscrasia in COVID-19 patients linked to IL-6 triggering

Microbes Infect. 2021 May-Jun;23(4-5):104808. doi: 10.1016/j.micinf.2021.104808. Epub 2021 Mar 20.

Abstract

An unusual clonal gammopathy was reported in COVID-19 patient but whether this anomaly is related or not to the disease has not yet been clarified. To this aim, we selected a cohort of 35 COVID-19 patients swab positive and investigated serological levels of IL-6, immune response to major viral antigens and electrophoretic profile. Elevated levels of IL-6 were accompanied by a significative humoral response to viral Spike protein, revealing an altered electrophoretic profile in the gamma region. We can conclude that elevated levels of IL-6 triggers humoral response inducing a transient plasma cell dyscrasia in severe COVID-19 patients.

Keywords: Covid-19; Cytokine storm; IL-6; Immunoglobulins; Plasma cell dyscrasia; Sars-CoV-2.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Antibodies, Viral / blood
  • COVID-19 / complications*
  • COVID-19 / immunology
  • Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins / immunology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interleukin-6 / immunology*
  • Italy
  • Male
  • Paraproteinemias / immunology
  • Paraproteinemias / virology*
  • Phosphoproteins / immunology
  • Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus / immunology

Substances

  • Antibodies, Viral
  • Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins
  • IL6 protein, human
  • Interleukin-6
  • Phosphoproteins
  • Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
  • nucleocapsid phosphoprotein, SARS-CoV-2
  • spike protein, SARS-CoV-2