Ht. Steinmetz et al., INCREASE IN INTERLEUKIN-6 SERUM LEVEL PRECEDING FEVER IN GRANULOCYTOPENIA AND CORRELATION WITH DEATH FROM SEPSIS, The Journal of infectious diseases, 171(1), 1995, pp. 225-228
Serum interleukin (IL)-6 levels measured by ELISA were correlated with
the clinical course of 53 adults with hematologic malignancies in 95
episodes of chemotherapy-induced leukocytopenia (<1000/mu L). The medi
an IL-6 level was 15 pg/mL (range, <3-123) in 27 episodes without feve
r. This level was 14.5 pg/mL (range, <3-187) 72-48 h before onset of f
ever, 78 pg/mL (range, <3-170) 24 h before fever in episodes with unex
plained fever (FUO), and 182 pg/mL (range, 63-1076) 24 h before fever
in episodes with positive blood cultures (P < .001). Within 24 h after
onset of fever, median IL-6 level was 171 pg/mL (range, 53-1134) in e
pisodes of FUO, 444 pg/mL (range, 38-7973) in episodes with gram-negat
ive bacteremia, and 2017 pg/mL (range, 76-7253) with gram-positive bac
teremia (P < .01). IL-6 levels increased before death in all 13 patien
ts who died of sepsis. Median level was 7253 pg/mL (range, 445-95,906)
within 3 days of death. Determination of IL-6 may be useful for early
assessment and as a prognostic tool in leukocytopenic fever.