Association of serum interleukin-6 and soluble interleukin-2-receptor levels with disease activity status in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: A prospective observational study

Abstract

Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are characterized by overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines. We determined the association of serum levels of interleukin (IL)-6, soluble-IL-2-receptor (sIL-2R) and CRP as well as of faecal calprotectin (FC) values with disease activity in CD and UC patients. This prospective study included 145 CD and 84 UC patients. Serum proinflammatory biomarkers and FC levels were measured and demographic, clinical and endoscopic characteristics were collected. Uni-and multivariate statistical analyses were performed. Serum IL-6 and CRP levels as well as FC values of CD patients were associated with clinical and endoscopic remission. In multivariate analysis serum IL-6 levels remained significantly associated with clinical and endoscopic remission. FC levels were also associated with endoscopic remission in CD patients. CD patients under the threshold levels of 8.5 pg/mL and 5.5 pg/mL for serum IL-6 were in 70% and 66% in clinical and endoscopic remission, respectively. Serum sIL-2R, CRP levels and FC values of UC patients were associated in univariate analysis with clinical and endoscopic remission. In multivariate analysis CRP and FC values were associated with clinical remission and serum sIL-2R as well as FC levels with endoscopic remission. UC patients under the threshold levels of 759 IU/mL and 646 IU/mL for serum sIL-2R were in 76% and 76% in clinical and endoscopic remission, respectively. Beside CRP and FC, serum IL-6 levels in CD patients and sIL-2R levels in UC patients can be a further useful non-invasive biomarker to identify the disease activity status.

Serum inflammatory markers in the diagnosis and assessment of Crohn’s disease activity

“…We found serum IL-6 significantly higher in CD patients with active than inactive disease ( Table I ). The ratio of median serum IL-6 in active and inactive CD of 2.12 was similar to that reported by Mavropoulou et al [ 25 ], but lower than in a study by Nikolaus et al [ 24 ]. Diagnostic performance of IL-6 in differentiating active and inactive disease was in our study worse than that of CRP ( Table II ).…”

“…IL-6 is also a candidate marker for CD course and treatment monitoring. It was demonstrated to be associated with disease activity [ 22 – 25 ], to predict endoscopic IBD activity in combination with serum amyloid A (SAA), IL-8, and eotaxin-1 [ 26 ], and to predict the response to biologic treatment in CD patients [ 27 , 28 ]. However, there are also reports that do not confirm the diagnostic utility of IL-6 in CD [ 29 ].…”

Serum sIL-2R May Predict the Prognosis of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbation

“…Several studies have found that the level of sIL-2R is elevated during the acute or aggravated phase of the disease and decreased during the convalescence period or after treatment [24,25]. Park found [26,27] In this study, sIL-2R was found to be significantly increased in patients with poor outcomes in COPD exacerbation, suggesting that sIL-2R may play a potential role in COPD exacerbation.…”

Surrogate markers of mucosal healing in inflammatory bowel disease: A systematic review

“…Cytokines, such as IL-6 and soluble IL-2 receptor (sIL-2R), have been shown to modulate the intestinal immune system. Mavropoulou et al [ 44 ] analyzed serum IL-6 and sIL-2R levels in a cohort of IBD patients. They evaluated the correlation between these laboratory markers and clinical and endoscopic disease activity status in IBD patients.…”