title: Evaluation of sequential serum interleukin-6 levels in liver allograft recipients.
abstract: Control serum levels of IL-6 measured by ELISA in 30 healthy blood donors or volunteers were 18 +/- 34 pg/ml (mean +/- SD). Pretransplant serum levels of IL-6 in 169 adult candidates for liver transplantation were significantly higher than control in those with fulminant hepatitis (203 +/- 232 pg/ml), alcoholic cirrhosis (116 +/- 257 pg/ml), and hepatocellular carcinoma (82 +/- 105 pg/ml). With these data as background, plasma or serum levels of IL-6 were monitored in 24 adult patients after first OLT and correlated with the clinical courses and the histopathological diagnosis of rejection. Serum or plasma levels of IL-6 decreased after transplantation regardless of pretransplant value. Four patients with infection subsequently developed continuously high IL-6 values. In the 20 of 24 patients who did not have infection, significantly higher levels of IL-6 were consistently found 0-4 days before histopathological diagnosis of rejection (131 +/- 78 pg/ml) compared with significantly lower values in patients without rejection episodes (40 +/- 21 pg/ml). The elevations of IL-6 were spike shaped, did not correlate well with the histopathological grades of rejection, and were highly responsive to augmented immunosuppression. These 20 cases were classified as: group 1, no spikes of IL-6 after liver transplantation; group 2, single spike of IL-6 after liver transplantation; and group 3, multiple spikes of IL-6 after liver transplantation. The combined early and late graft loss of each group was 0% (group 1), 25% (group 2), and 67% (group 3). We conclude that daily monitored serum or plasma IL-6 levels can be a good premonitor of liver allograft rejection and also a useful predictor of long-term graft outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kita
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwaki
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Demetris
authors.forename: T E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Starzl
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6