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Prognostic value of cytokines in SIRS general medical patients
M Rodríguez-Gaspar1, F Santolaria, A Jarque-López
1Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Tenerife, Spain.
Abstract:
We studied 174 patients with SIRS criteria, 45 with sepsis, eight with severe sepsis and 13 with septic shock. Serum TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 levels were raised in SIRS patients, even in those cases in which an infection could not be documented, and more intensely in severe sepsis and in patients who died (11%). The slope of the regression line between IL-10 and TNF-alpha was sharper in patients with severe sepsis and in those who died; an imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines may be related to poor prognosis. Increased IL-6 and IL-10, decreased muscle mass, raised BUN and low body temperature were all independently related to prognosis.