We thank Blot and colleagues for their interest in our article and for raising an important question regarding the suitability of IL-6 as a therapeutic target in coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
In their correspondence, Blot and colleagues provide data on IL-6 levels measured in patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19 versus non–COVID-19 pneumonia. Although we believe the data presented by Blot and colleagues are valid, we suggest that the IL-6 levels depicted are, by virtue of sample timing, processing methodology, and patient severity of disease, not comparable to ours and should be interpreted in context.
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The original article is available at https://www.atsjournals.org/
Published Citation
McElvaney OJ, McEvoy NL, McElvaney NG, Curley GF. Reply to Blot et al. and to Inoue et al. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2021;203(1):141-142