title: Preoperative interleukin-22 values add valuable information for outcome prediction following orthotopic liver transplantation: a preliminary study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent findings support the idea that interleukin (IL)-22 serum levels are related to disease severity in end-stage liver disease. Existing scoring systems--Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD), Survival Outcomes Following Liver Transplantation (SOFT) and Pre-allocation-SOFT (P-SOFT)--are well-established in appraising survival rates with or without liver transplantation. We tested the hypothesis that IL-22 serum levels at transplantation date correlate with survival and potentially have value as a predictive factor for survival.
  
  
  METHODS
  MELD, SOFT, and P-SOFT scores were calculated to estimate post-transplantation survival. Serum levels of IL-22, IL-6, IL-10, C-reactive protein (CRP), and procalcitonin (PCT) were collected prior to transplantation in 41 patients. Outcomes were assessed at 3 months, 1 year, and 3 years after transplantation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  IL-22 significantly correlated with MELD, P-SOFT, and SOFT scores (Rs 0.35, 0.63, 0.56 respectively, p<0.05) and with the discrimination in post-transplantation survival. IL-6 showed a heterogeneous pattern (Rs 0.40, 0.63, 0.57, respectively, p<0.05); CRP and PCT did not correlate. We therefore added IL-22 serum values to existing scoring systems in a generalized linear model (GLM), resulting in a significantly improved outcome prediction in 58% of the cases for both the P-SOFT (p<0.01) and SOFT scores (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Further studies are needed to address the concept that IL-22 serum values at the time of transplantation provide valuable information about survival rates following orthotopic liver transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Tobias M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Bingold
authors.affiliation: Department for Plastic, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, Cooperation Hospital of Plastic Surgery of the University Hospital Frankfurt, Main-Taunus Hospitals GmbH, Bad Soden, Germany.
authors.forename: Lara
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Just
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Colleen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cuca
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zacharowski
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, Westpfalz-Klinikum , Kaiserslautern, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mönch
authors.affiliation: Pharmazentrum Frankfurt/ZAFES, General Pharmacology, Goethe-University School of Medicine, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Heiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mühl
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Heimo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wissing
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany.
authors.forename: Gordon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pipa
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rosenberger
authors.affiliation: Department of General and Visceral Surgery, University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolf O
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Bechstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Paulus
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Bertram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Scheller
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D058625:End Stage Liver Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D007378:Interleukins / Q000097:blood*; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D007902:Length of Stay; D016014:Linear Models; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D057234:Preoperative Period; D011379:Prognosis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000097043:Interleukin-22
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D016207:Cytokines; D015850:Interleukin-6; D007378:Interleukins; D000097043:Interleukin-22; C508600:IL6 protein, human