Objective: To explore the relationship between interleukin-6 (IL-6) production and central nervous injury in septic patients.
Methods: Twenty-two septic patients without central nervous system diseases were examined for serum IL-6 and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) levels, and the serum NSE levels and APACHEII scores were compared between patients with low, moderate, and high serum IL-6 levels. The correlations between NSE, APACHEII and serum IL-6 were analyzed.
Results: In patients with low, moderate, and high serum IL-6 levels, the serum levels of NSE were 10.29∓4.05, 16.06∓5.84 and 23.97∓3.28 µg/L, respectively, showing a significant difference between the 3 groups (P<0.001). The APACHEII scores also differed significantly between the 3 groups (14.17∓4.67, 16.40∓4.84, and 24.00∓6.26, respectively, P=0.009). Correlation analysis showed significant positive correlations of IL-6 with NSE (r=0.788, P<0.001) and with APACHEII scores (r=0.733, P<0.001).
Conclusion: In septic patients, serum IL-6 level is significantly correlated with the severity of sepsis and brain injury, and can be used as a marker to monitor brain injury in septic patients.