{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T07:17:18Z","timestamp":1792048638072,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,27]],"date-time":"2023-03-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1679875200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rapidly emerged as a global pandemic, placing imminent stress and burden on healthcare resources and workers worldwide. Many patients who present with a severe COVID-19 infection are at high risk of developing severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), leading to a vast number of patients requiring mechanical ventilation and a high mortality rate. Similar to Middle East respiratory syndrome, COVID-19 demonstrates an initial viral replication phase that manifests as a variety of symptoms typically flu-like in nature, followed by a profound inflammatory response leading to rapid production of cytokines and uncontrolled inflammation. There have also been many cases of COVID-19 in pediatric patients presenting with elevated inflammatory markers and multisystem involvement labeled as a multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) by the world health organization (WHO). The recent treatment of systemic inflammatory response to COVID-19 targets the secondary phase involving cytokine release syndrome. The detrimental effects of IL-6 can be profound and elevated levels are associated with a higher mortality rate and mechanical ventilation. Tocilizumab is an IL-6 inhibitor most widely investigated to target cytokine storm syndrome. Since June 2021, the FDA enacted an emergency use authorization for tocilizumab in the treatment of COVID-19. Several clinical trials have investigated tocilizumab combined with corticosteroids for treating severe ARDS associated with COVID-19. An increasing amount of evidence suggests that targeting the cytokine storm syndrome related to COVID-19 can lead to improved outcomes, especially in those patients requiring mechanical ventilation and with a critical illness. Additional studies are warranted to further look at the positive effects of tocilizumab in the COVID-19 population while additionally defining possible adverse effects.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life13040889","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,27]],"date-time":"2023-03-27T05:34:30Z","timestamp":1679895270000},"page":"889","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Tocilizumab for Severe COVID-19 Infection and Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Adults and Children"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Amber N.","family":"Edinoff","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at Shreveport, Shreveport, LA 71103, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Edward Sanders","family":"Alpaugh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-5907-9343","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Olivia","family":"Newgaard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical College of Wisconsin, School of Medicine, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Irza","family":"Wajid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at Shreveport, Shreveport, LA 71103, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rachel J.","family":"Klapper","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at Shreveport, Shreveport, LA 71103, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7961-3931","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elyse M.","family":"Cornett","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at Shreveport, Shreveport, LA 71103, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7224-3322","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adam M.","family":"Kaye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy Practice, Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA 95211, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0966-5020","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Praneet","family":"Iyer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Baptist Memorial Hospital, Desoto, MS 38671, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alan D.","family":"Kaye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA"},{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at Shreveport, Shreveport, LA 71103, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"343","DOI":"10.1631\/jzus.B2000083","article-title":"An overview of COVID-19","volume":"21","author":"Shi","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. 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