title: [A study on interleukin-6 in inflammatory bowel disease].
abstract: The production of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been measured, including the effects of steroid hormone, salicylazosulfapyridine (SASP) and its metabolites. In active Crohn's disease (CD) (n = 12) and ulcerative colitis (UC) (n = 9), rate of IL-6 positive group in serum was significantly higher than that in controls (n = 20) (p < 0.01, p < 0.01). In active CD (n = 9) and UC (n = 9), the level of IL-6 production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) was 22.8 +/- 15.1 ng/ml, 24.3 +/- 14.4 ng/ml, and it was significantly higher than that in controls (n = 15, 8.0 +/- 6.6 ng/ml) (p < 0.05, p < 0.01). IL-6 production by PBMNC always showed the time dependent increase both in IBD and controls, and the level of IL-6 was always higher in IBD than that in controls during the culture time. Furthermore, IL-6 production by monocyte in UC (n = 6, 4.4 +/- 1.4 ng/ml) was significantly higher than that in controls (n = 6, 1.7 +/- 0.8 ng/ml) (p < 0.01). The effects of steroid hormone, SASP and its metabolites on IL-6 production were also investigated. Steroid hormone significantly reduced IL-6 production by PBMNC, but others had no effect on IL-6 production. This study suggested that IL-6 might be involved in the pathophysiology of IBD.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamakawa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000097:blood*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012460:Sulfasalazine / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D012460:Sulfasalazine