title: Circulating serum levels of interleukin 6 and C-reactive protein after liver transplantation.
abstract: The study objectives were to investigate serum levels of interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein (CRP) after liver transplantation to correlated measurements with various clinical parameters. Twenty-three patients were studied after orthotopic liver transplantation. Serum IL-6 activity was evaluated by testing its capacity to induce proliferation of the IL-6-dependent hybridoma cell line B9. CRP was assessed by a nephelometric method. Only two of seven patients with acute cellular rejection developed an increase of serum IL-6 and CRP. In contrast to this rejection group, elevated IL-6 levels were observed in 7/9 patients with bacterial infections. Peak values for IL-6 were observed one day and for CRP two days after clinical diagnosis of infection. CMV disease was also associated with markedly increased IL-6 and CRP levels in 5/7 patients. Surprisingly, levels in this condition were approximately in the same range as in bacterial infection. IL-6 and CRP serum levels seen in bacterial infection and CMV disease were significantly higher than those in rejection (P less than 0.001). Serum IL-6 activity was neutralized by an antiserum directed against recombinant human IL-6. Preferential elevations of IL-6 and CRP represent one feature of bacterial and viral infections. Elevation of TNF during rejection as described earlier is only rarely accompanied by increased serum IL-6 levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tilg
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nordberg
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Vogel
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Luger
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Herold
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Aulitzky
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Margreiter
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huber
mesh_terms: D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000209:etiology; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis*; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000209:etiology; D006084:Graft Rejection; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D002097:C-Reactive Protein