Fig. 3.

Modulation of cytokines responses at the end of treatment as the proposed mechanism of action of clarithromycin. Production of A interferon-gamma (IFNγ) and of B interleukin (IL)-6 from isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells following stimulation with heat-killed Candida albicans before start of treatment with clarithromycin and at end of treatment (EOT) with clarithromycin. Comparison of the IFNγ/IL-6 ratio of PBMCs at the EOT between patients with high and low viral load of SARS-CoV-2 on the same treatment visit. The viral load is expressed as the Ct of positivity of the real-time PCR separately for C the E gene and for D the RdRp gene. The N values in parentheses refer to the existing number of patients analysed. The p values of comparisons by the Mann-Whitney U test are provided