Increased Level of Interleukin 6 Associates With Increased 90-Day and 1-Year Mortality in Patients With End-Stage Liver Disease
Abstract
Background & aims Organ allocation for liver transplantation is based on prognosis, using the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) or MELD including serum sodium (MELD-Na) score. These scores do not consider systemic inflammation and septic complications. Blood level of C-reactive protein (CRP), in addition to the MELD score, associates with mortality in patients with end-stage liver disease, whereas levels of interleukin 6 (IL6) have not been systematically studied. Methods We performed a retrospective observational cohort study of 474 patients with end-stage liver disease (63.5% male; median age, 56.9 years), evaluated for liver transplantation in Germany, with at least 1 year of follow up. Data were collected on blood levels of CRP, IL6, and white blood cell count (WBC). Findings were analyzed in relation to mortality and compared with patients' MELD scores and MELD-Na scores. For survival analysis, the cohort was divided into quartiles of IL6, CRP, and WBC levels, as well as MELD scores. Log-rank test and the Cox proportional hazards regression model were used to compare the groups, and area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) values were calculated. Results Blood levels of IL6 and MELD scores associated with mortality: none of the patients with levels of IL6 below the first quartile (below 5.3 pg/mL) died within 1 year. In contrast, 67.7% of the patients in the highest quartile of IL6 level (37.0 pg/mL or more) died within 1 year. MELD score also corr…
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Elevated IL-6 levels are highly predictive for mortality in a cohort of end-stage liver diseases; none of the patients with lower IL-6 level (<5.3 pg/mL) died within one year, but more than half of aged patients died within one year under higher IL-6 level (>11.6 pg/mL).
“As the data shown in the cohort of end-stage liver diseases, elevated IL-6 levels were highly predictive for mortality. None of the patients with lower IL-6 level (< 5.3 pg/mL) died within one year, but more than half of aged patients died within one year under higher IL-6 level (> 11.6 pg/mL) [41].”
From The double-edged effects of IL-6 in liver regeneration, aging, inflammation, and diseases (2024) · cites this paper as [41]
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- Authors
- Remmler, J., Schneider, C., Treuner-Kaueroff, T., Bartels, M., Seehofer, D., Scholz, M., Berg, T., & Kaiser, T.
- Affiliations
- University Hospital Leipzig (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Kaiser, Thorsten
- Venue
- Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-05
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 730-737
- ISSN
- 1542-3565 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2753962694
- Cited by
- 56
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 3.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Hepatology › Liver Disease and Transplantation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Sepsis Diagnosis and Treatment
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Organ Transplantation Techniques and Outcomes
- Keywords
- interleukin-6, end-stage liver disease, mortality prediction, liver transplantation, MELD score, MELD-Na, C-reactive protein, white blood cell count, systemic inflammation, prognostic factors, organ allocation, sepsis, prognostic score comparison, 90-day mortality, one-year mortality
- MeSH terms
- Diagnostic Tests, Routine, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Germany, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Prognosis, Retrospective Studies, ROC Curve, Interleukin-6, Survival Analysis, End Stage Liver Disease
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