The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical role of inflammatory cytokines in the disease's pathophysiology and outcomes. This study aimed to assess the serum levels of key inflammatory cytokines—IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α—in COVID-19 patients at Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving forty-one (41) COVID-19 positive patients and forty-one (41) control subjects aged between twenty (20) and seventy (70) years. Blood samples were collected from all consenting participants for cytokine analysis. The findings revealed a significant elevation in IL-6 levels among COVID-19 patients compared to controls (p < 0.001). Conversely, IL-1β and TNF-α levels did not show significant differences between the groups (p = 0.07 and p = 0.77, respectively). There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in IL-6, IL-1 β and TNF- α based on gender. There was a significant difference in IL-1β levels across the age groups (p = 0.04) in the test group, while no significant differences were observed for IL-6 (p = 0.95) and TNF-α (p = 0.92). Post-hoc analysis for IL-1β revealed a significant difference between age groups 31-40 and 51-60 years (p = 0.00). In the control group, that there is a significant difference in the levels of IL-6 among the different age groups, with a p-value of 0.04. Post-hoc analysis shows a significant difference between the 31-40 years and 41-50 years groups (p = 0.02). This study has shown that COVID-19 patients experience heighten IL-6 level than those without the disease. Although gender may not affect cytokine levels in these patients but age may impact differently with or without the disease.
