Depression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6, and interleukin-10 production: a reaction to the initial systemic hyperactivation in septic shock

Sepsis remains a major cause of mortality in surgical intensive care units. Patients who survive the initial shock phase but die weeks later from multiple organ dysfunction still are a challenge to basic and clinical research. We addressed whether fulminant sepsis results in rapid changes (24 h) in the cellular capacity to produce cytokines in whole blood of septic patients on further stimulation after the initial systemic inflammatory response. Interleukin (IL)-6 plasma concentrations from 279 pg/mL to 5979 pg/mL confirmed the presence of a systemic inflammatory response. Anti-inflammatory IL-10 concentrations up to 275 pg/mL were detected, but there was no biologically active tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) detectable (by bioassay) at the time of investigation. On stimulation with Escherichia coli ex vivo, pro-inflammatory TNFalpha (130 pg/mL), IL-6 (4061 pg/mL), and anti-inflammatory IL-10 (711 pg/mL) production were markedly depressed in all patients compared with controls (2339 pg/mL, 50,319 pg/mL, and 9654 pg/mL, respectively). Septic shock resulted in early depression of the capacity for pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine production. Monitoring of this effect, including its relationship to outcome, may offer a target variable for therapeutic efforts to maintain or restore adequate immune reactions to improve survival.