title: Elevation of interleukin 6 levels in patients with chronic hepatitis due to hepatitis C virus.
abstract: Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic cytokine produced by a wide variety of lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues. We studied the relationship between IL-6 and the liver in an attempt to elucidate this cytokine's role in hepatitis C-induced liver inflammation. We investigated the behavior of serum IL-6 in 25 patients with chronic hepatitis C (divided into three groups depending on severity) and in 27 healthy controls. Our results showed a significant elevation (P < 0.0001) in serum IL-6 levels in the patients with chronic hepatitis C, correlated with the histological activity index (HAI) and their HCV-RNA serum levels. This rise may represent the expression of the hepatitis C virus-induced inflammatory state.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, University of Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malaguarnera
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Di Fazio
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Romeo
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Restuccia
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laurino
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Trovato
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D012367:RNA, Viral