Respiratory failure & ventilation
Interleukin-6 is a mediator of therapeutic efficacy in acute lung injury
Authors' conclusion
The mortality benefit by anakinra and imatinib in COVID-19 and low tidal volume ventilation in acute lung injury may operate through resolution of inflammation defined by a reduction in plasma IL-6 levels.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or COVID-19 in 5 large RCTs
- Participants
- 2,563 patients · 5 RCTs
- Comparison
- IL-6 as mediator of interventions on 28-day survival
- Outcome
- IL-6 mediation of intervention effects on mortality
Methodological detailsmediation analysis, joint modeling, random effects meta-analysis
- Mediation analysis
- Joint modeling
- Random effects meta-analysis
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
- IL-6 mediated the effects of imatinib, anakinra and low tidal volume on mortality
- Higher positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and simvastatin did not alter IL-6 trajectories
Further pooled results
| Outcome | HR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Association of IL-6 with mortality (per log10-unit increase, pooled) · 28 daysRandom effects meta-analysis | 4.83 (3.50–6.66) | |
| 0.10.31310Hazard ratio (log scale) |
Parts of this Brief are withheld: the automatic checks could not confirm them against the abstract.
Original publication
Interleukin-6 is a mediator of therapeutic efficacy in acute lung injury. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. Published 28 April 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →