title: Serum levels of interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 as diagnostic markers of acute pyelonephritis in children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Early diagnosis and treatment of acute pyelonephritis in children is of special importance in order to prevent serious complications. This study was conducted to determine the diagnostic value of serum interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 in children with acute pyelonephritis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-seven patients between 1 month to 12 years old with urinary tract infection (UTI) were divided into 2 groups based on the result of 99m-technetium dimercapto-succinic acid renal scan: acute pyelonephritis (n=37) and lower UTI (n=50) groups. White blood cell (WBC) count, neutrophil (Neutl) count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration, platelet count, and serum IL-6 and IL-8 concentrations of both groups were measured and compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant difference between two groups regarding WBC count, Neutl count, ESR, and CRP concentration (P<0.05). In addition, the difference between the two groups regarding serum IL-6 and IL-8 concentrations was not significant (IL-6, 60 and 35.4 pg/mL and IL-8, 404 and 617 pg/mL, respectively). The sensitivity and specificity of serum IL-6 and IL-8 for diagnosis of acute pyelonephritis were 73%, 42% and 78%, 32%, respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values of serum IL-6 and IL-8 were less than those of acute phase serum reactants such as CRP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed that there was no significant difference between acute pyelonephritis and lower UTI groups regarding serum IL-6 and IL-8 levels. Therefore, despite confirming results of previous studies, it seems that IL-6 and IL-8 are not suitable markers for differentiating between acute pyelonephritis and lower UTI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
authors.forename: Abolfazl
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mahyar
authors.forename: Parviz
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ayazi
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Maleki
authors.forename: Mohammad Mahdi
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Daneshi-Kohan
authors.forename: Hamid Reza
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Sarokhani
authors.forename: Hassan Jahani
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Hashemi
authors.forename: Mousa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Talebi-Bakhshayesh
keywords: Acute pyelonephritis; Interleukin-6; Interleukin-8