IL6ST and COVID-19: In contrast, a study of 104 Italian patients compared to healthy controls from the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated elevated levels of IL-6 (265.5 pg/mL vs 1.92 pg/mL, p <  0.0001) and sIL-6R (39.71 ng/mL vs 30.01 ng/mL p <  0.005), and lower levels of the buffer sgp130 (181.5 ng/mL vs 324.3 ng/mL, p <  0.0001) in those with COVID-19 [57].