title: Interleukin 6--a potential mediator of lethal sepsis after major thermal trauma: evidence for increased IL-6 production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
abstract: We studied the plasma levels of the acute phase mediator interleukin 6 (IL-6) in 21 severely burned patients (burn injuries ranging from 24% to 75% total body surface area). The posttraumatic course of the IL-6 plasma levels was closely related to the clinical outcome. The nonseptic survivors as well as survivors with suspected sepsis (n = 14) exhibited maximal amounts of IL-6 (251 +/- 32 pg/mL) during the first 3 days post-burn, which subsequently returned to values within the normal range (days 30 to 50; 26 +/- 8 pg/mL). In the nonsurvivors (n = 7) IL-6 concentrations permanently increased (up to 1,921 +/- 356 pg/mL) until death (days 10 to 19) resulting from sepsis with consecutive multiple organ failure. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients expressed IL-6-specific mRNA in vivo at high levels in contrast to the PBMCs of healthy donors. In addition, the spontaneous and PHA-induced in vitro production of IL-6 by patients' PBMCs was enhanced compared with healthy controls, whereas no significant differences were obtained with bacterial endotoxin (LPS). The findings suggest that interleukin 6 is a potential mediator of lethal sepsis after major thermal trauma.
authors.affiliation: Lehrstuhl für Med. Mikrobiologie und Immunologie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schlüter
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: König
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bergmann
authors.forename: F E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: König
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002056:Burns / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007239:Infections / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D007700:Kinetics; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000378:metabolism*; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins; D012333:RNA, Messenger