title: Plasma concentration of interleukin 6 (IL-6), and its relationship with circulating concentration of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) in patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria.
abstract: Decline in circulating DHEA-S concentration may be a phenomenon accompanying chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU). IL-6 is a multifunctional proinflammatory cytokine which exerts a wide range of biological effects. A functional link between DHEA-S and IL-6 has been described. Therefore, the present study was performed to evaluate circulating concentration of IL-6 in patients with CIU and to study its relationship with DHEA-S and C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration. IL-6 plasma concentration was determined in 18 female non-atopic patients with CIU who had negative response to autologous serum skin test and 20 non-atopic healthy controls. Plasma concentration of IL-6 was statistically higher in CIU patients than in the control group, although all the values were found within the range of the normal subjects. CIU patients showed significantly lower DHEA-S concentration in serum than the controls. CRP concentration remained within the normal range and did not differ between the two groups. We did not find a significant correlation between concentration of IL-6 and DHEA-S, or CRP. It seems that the processes associated with CIU may be accompanied by slightly elevated plasma concentration of IL-6 and substantially decreased serum concentration of DHEA-S as compared with the healthy subjects. However, no association between IL-6 and DHEA-S concentration in the peripheral circulation of CIU patients was proved, suggesting that both phenomena may not be related to each other.
authors.affiliation: Chair and Clinical Department of Internal Diseases, Allergology and Clinical Immunology, ul. 3-go Maja 13-15, 41-800 Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland. kasperska@plusnet.pl
authors.forename: Alicja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kasperska-Zajac
authors.forename: Zenon
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Brzoza
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rogala
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D002908:Chronic Disease; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D014581:Urticaria / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology*