{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T22:50:26Z","timestamp":1792018226999,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776384000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100014188","name":"Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["RS-2024-00439160"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2024-00439160"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100014188","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and septic shock are both characterized by dysregulated host immune responses. While similarities and differences in immune responses between COVID-19 and bacterial sepsis have been reported, direct comparative analyses remain limited. This study aims to characterize the immunologic status of patients with COVID-19 and sepsis through plasma cytokine\/chemokine analysis, thereby providing additional candidates for immunomodulatory therapy for COVID-19.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We included patients diagnosed with severe COVID-19 or septic shock with lymphopenia, matched for age, sex, steroid administration, and severity. A total of 20 analytes were measured using Luminex assay.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A total of 36 patients were enrolled. Plasma granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) concentrations were significantly higher in the COVID-19 group (5.3 pg\/ml; IQR, 3.6\u201316.3 vs 0.0 pg\/ml; IQR, 0.0\u20133.6; P\u2009=\u20090.010). Plasma interleukin-10 (IL-10) (0.0 pg\/ml; IQR, 0.0\u20134.8 vs 28.8 pg\/ml; IQR, 7.5\u201351.7; P\u2009=\u20090.003) and IL-15 (0.0 pg\/ml; IQR, 0.0\u20130.0 vs 0.0 pg\/ml; IQR, 0.0\u20135.6; P\u2009=\u20090.024) levels were significantly higher in the sepsis group. Firth logistic regression analysis showed that plasma IL-6, IL-8, and CXCL16 levels were associated with new organ support in the sepsis group, while IL-15, CXCL16, and IL-1RA levels tended to be associated in the COVID-19 group.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>At day 7 after diagnosis, both groups exhibited active proinflammatory responses, but only the sepsis group showed prominent anti-inflammatory responses. The persistent elevation of GM-CSF in the COVID-19 group, even with steroid administration, highlights its potential as a therapeutic target and underscores the need for patient stratification in immunomodulatory trials.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0347126","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T17:43:00Z","timestamp":1776447780000},"page":"e0347126","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Distinct plasma cytokine and chemokine profiles in severe COVID-19 and septic shock"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Se Ju","family":"Lee","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jaehoon","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Min","family":"Han","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jung Ah","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yongseop","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jung Ho","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jin Young","family":"Ahn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Su 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