IL-6 and IL-17 may provide a potential link between hypertension and long-COVID sequelae in hemodialysis patients: A multicenter cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective The mechanisms underlying long COVID in patients treated with hemodialysis (HD) are not yet fully understood. We hypothesized that uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) before infection might contribute to the development of long-COVID symptoms in HD patients through upregulation of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-17 production, possibly associated with severe acute COVID-19. In the present cross-sectional study, we examined serum IL-6 and IL-17 levels at two time points after acute COVID-19 infection taking into account preinfection BP and the presence of long-COVID sequelae in HD patients. Results A total of 80 HD patients aged 56 (44–63.2) years with a dialysis vintage of 4.7 (3.3 − 7.08) years who had experienced COVID-19 at least 5 months before enrollment were included in this cross-sectional study. We found that preinfection uncontrolled BP was associated with long-COVID sequelae in HD patients. Both hypertension and long COVID resulted in elevated IL-6 and IL-17 concentrations, peaking in patients with both conditions and decreasing over time after COVID-19 possibly reflecting Th17-related systemic inflammation during the acute phase of COVID-19.