title: IL-6 levels predict disease variant and extent of organ involvement in patients with mastocytosis.
abstract: Mastocytosis is often associated with organ involvement and hematological disorders. Patients may also exhibit elevated levels of plasma IL-6. To gain insight into the relevance of this observation, we correlated plasma levels of IL-6 and soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R) with multiple disease parameters in 29 patients with mastocytosis. Mean plasma IL-6 levels were elevated in patients compared to healthy controls (P < 0.0001). Disease category significantly correlated with plasma IL-6 levels, as did severity of bone marrow pathology, organomegaly, and extent of skin involvement. In plasma, there was a positive correlation of IL-6 to total tryptase, alkaline phosphatase, IgM, white blood cell count, prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, and neutrophil numbers. There was an inverse correlation to hemoglobin. sIL-6R levels were not elevated. These observations demonstrate that IL-6 is a useful surrogate marker of severity of hematologic disease and suggest that IL-6 contributes to pathology.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Allergic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892-1881, USA. knut.brockow@lrz.tum.de
authors.forename: Knut
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brockow
authors.forename: Cem
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Akin
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.forename: Dean D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Metcalfe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006529:Hepatomegaly; D006801:Humans; D007132:Immunoglobulin Isotypes / Q000097:blood; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008206:Lymphatic Diseases; D008297:Male; D008415:Mastocytosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D019947:Receptors, Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000097:blood; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013163:Splenomegaly; D053802:Tryptases; D014582:Urticaria Pigmentosa / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D007132:Immunoglobulin Isotypes; D015850:Interleukin-6; D019947:Receptors, Interleukin-6; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D053802:Tryptases