title: The postoperative serum interleukin-15 concentration correlates with organ dysfunction and the prognosis of septic patients following emergency gastrointestinal surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To clarify the time course of changes in the serum interleukin-15 (IL-15) concentrations in septic patients undergoing emergency surgery for abdominal infection and to investigate whether the serum IL-15 levels correlate with the postoperative clinical course of septic patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four septic patients who had intra-abdominal infection and who underwent an emergency operation were enrolled in this study. The serum IL-15 levels were measured before surgery, and on postoperative d 1 (POD1), POD3, and POD5, and the relationship between the serum IL-15 levels and the postoperative clinical course estimated by the Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) criteria, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE-II) score, the parameters of organ function, and the 30-d mortality were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The time course of changes of the serum IL-15 levels were significantly different between survivors and non-survivors (P < 0.05, by repeated measures analysis of variance [ANOVA]). There was a statistically significant relationship between the serum IL-15 levels on POD1 or POD3 and the duration of SIRS (R = 0.50, P < 0.05, R = 0.65, P < 0.01, respectively). Furthermore, a significant positive correlation was observed between the serum IL-15 levels on POD1 and the creatinine levels on POD1 or POD3 (R = 0.48, P < 0.05, R = 0.50, P < 0.05, respectively), and a significant negative correlation between the serum IL-15 levels on POD1 or POD 3 and the PaO(2)/FiO(2) on POD3 (R = -0.51, P < 0.05, R = -0.69, P < 0.01, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The measurement of postoperative serum level of IL-15 might be useful for predicting the severity of SIRS and organ dysfunction, especially renal and pulmonary dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, National Defense Medical College, Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan.
authors.forename: Akifumi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ono
authors.forename: Shuichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hiraki
authors.forename: Risa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Takahata
authors.forename: Hironori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsujimoto
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hatsuse
authors.forename: Daizoh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saitoh
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hase
authors.forename: Junji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
mesh_terms: D018806:APACHE; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D013505:Digestive System Surgical Procedures; D004638:Emergency Treatment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019409:Interleukin-15 / Q000097:blood*; D007668:Kidney / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008168:Lung / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010538:Peritonitis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D057234:Preoperative Period; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018805:Sepsis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D019409:Interleukin-15