Correlation between nuclear factor kappaB activation and prognosis in patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome

Objective To observe the changes of nuclear factor Kappa B (NF-κB), interleukin-6 (IL-6)and acute physiology and chronic health evaluationⅡ (APACHEⅡ) scores in patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome(SIRS), and to study the role of NF-κB in estimating the severity of illness and prognosis.Methods Thirty five patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) were in the trial group, and 20 healthy people were in the control group. Thirty five patients were divided into multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) group and non - MODS group according to the MODS diagnostic criterion, and they also were followed-up for 28 days and then assigned to the group of survivors and non - survivors based on their prognosis. The activation of NF-κB was measured by immunohistochemical method, and the level of IL-6 were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) in each patient at 1, 3,the 5 and 7 days. APACHEⅡ scores were calculated for each patient during the first 24h in the ICU.Results The activations of NF-κB and the level of IL-6 in patients with SIRS were higher than those in control group (P0.01). The activations of NF-κB, the level of IL-6 and APACHEⅡ scores in the MODS group and the non - survivors group were higher than those in non - MODS group and the survivors group (P0.01 or P0.05). There were obvious positive correlations between the activations of NF-κB and the level of IL-6 and APACHEⅡscores (r=0.754,r=0.737,respectively, P0.01), and also good positive correlation between the level of IL-6 and APACHEⅡscores (r= 0.635,P0.01). Conclusion The activation of NF-κB has a close relationship with the severity and the prognosis in patients with SIRS.