title: Prognostic value of serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in long term care.
abstract: The aim of this prospective study was to examine the relationship between IL-6 levels and survival in an elderly population in a long term hospital care ward. All of the 184 women and 65 men hospitalized in the geriatric unit regardless of their health status were included. The plasma levels of interleukin-6 were measured at baseline and deaths were assessed over a 2-year period. IL-6 levels of at least 3pg/ml in men and 5.6pg/ml in women were respectively associated with a relative risk of death of 2.28 (CI(95): 1.04-4.95) and 1.52 (CI(95): 1.06-2.18). After adjustment for age class, the reduced survival observed with these thresholds only remained unchanged in men, the difference in survival in women was not significant. Our conclusion is that even in an elderly hospitalized population, high IL-6 levels were associated with poor survival. The lower survival rate after adjustment for class of age found in men but not in women suggests a gender-related specificity.
authors.affiliation: Service de Pharmacie, AP-HP, Hôpital Paul Brousse, 14 Avenue Paul Vaillant Couturier, F-94800 Villejuif, France. christophe.trivalle@pbr.ap-hop-paris.fr
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maurel
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hamon
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Taillandier
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rudant
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bonhomme-Faivre
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trivalle
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015850:Interleukin-6