SARS-CoV-2 Induced Interleukin -18 Response among Presumptive Covid-19 Patients in Kano State, Nigeria

Abstract

Coronaviruses have a history of causing severe outbreaks with life-threatening consequences, including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and the recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). COVID-19 first broke out in Wuhan (China) in December 2019). The disease was later declared a pandemic, and so far, more than 222 countries have been affected, with over 771 million confirmed cases and total deaths of over 7.05 million. Some immunological markers were reported elsewhere as directly related to COVID-19 pathophysiology and stand a chance to be considered biomarkers. Interleukin 18 (IL-18) is a proinflammatory cytokine and a member of the interleukin-1 family, produced by macrophages at the early stage of viral infections. However, aberrant IL-18 production can lead to severe pathological injury. Hence, there is a need to assess the feasibility of interleukin -18 as a biomarker for COVID-19. Forty-five individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 and 45 healthy controls screened using a COVID-19 antigen rapid test kit and confirmed by one-step real-time PCR were recruited for this study. Blood samples were collected from the patients and controls, and the samples were analyzed for IL-18 using the ELISA technique. This study revealed a higher level of IL-18 in COVID-19-positive patients (206.42 ± 13.2 pg/mL) compared to the control group (97.96 ± 14.4 pg/mL). Serum level IL-18 was statistically associated with COVID-19 infection (t value 6.16, p <0.00010). The study demonstrates the importance of IL-18 in the COVID-19 cohort, inferentially implying its potential in the prognosis and clinical management of COVID-19.