N. Ikuta et al., SUSTAINED HIGH-LEVELS OF CIRCULATORY INTERLEUKIN-8 ARE ASSOCIATED WITH A POOR OUTCOME IN PATIENTS WITH ADULT-RESPIRATORY-DISTRESS-SYNDROME, Internal medicine, 35(11), 1996, pp. 855-860
Neutrophils are reported to be a major factor in the pathogenesis of t
he adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We measured serial leve
ls of circulatory interleukin (IL)-8 and neutrophil elastase in 16 pat
ients with ARDS at the onset, on day 3 and on day 7 and studied the re
lationship of these levels to the clinical course. Circulatory IL-8 le
vels of all the patients at the onset were significantly elevated comp
ared with controls, mean+/-SE, 30.0+/-6.7 pg/ml and 3.3+/-0.3 pg/ml, r
espectively. There was a significant correlation between IL-8 and neut
rophil elastase levels at the onset (r=0.65, p<0.01). In nonsurvivors
circulatory IL-8 levels were significantly higher than those of surviv
ors throughout the study. There were significant differences in oxygen
ation, as reflected by PaO2/FIO2 ratios, between survivors and nonsurv
ivors at day 7, mean+/-SE, 208.5+/-21.9 and 113.5+/-9.6, respectively.
In conclusion, we have shown that the level of circulatory IL-8 is el
evated in patients with ARDS, and sustained high levels of circulatory
IL-8 might be correlated with a poor outcome.