The significance of IL-6 in patients with severe brain trauma treated by hypertonic saline

Objective To investigate the significance of IL-6 and IL-10 in patients with severe brain trauma treated by hypertonic saline.Methods 54 eligible patients with severe head injury were randomly divided into two groups and 20 healthy subjects were enrolled as control group.The 27 patients in hypertonic saline group were infused with 7.5% hypertonic saline(4ml/kg).The other 27 patients in conventional liquid group were infused with conventional liquid(crystalloid).The serum levels of IL-6 and IL-10 were detected at 1,3,5,7d after hospitalization,and the incidence rate of complication and mortality were recorded at 28d after hospitalization.Results The serum levels of IL-6 and IL-10 in both groups were significantly higher than those of healthy control group(P0.01).The levels of IL-6 in hypertonic saline group were significantly lower than those in conventional liquid group(P0.05).The levels of IL-6 in non-survival group were significantly higher than those in survival group(P0.01).There were no significant differences in the levels of IL-10 between the two group(P0.05).There were no significant differences in complications between two groups(37.78% in conventional liquid group vs 35.46% in hypertonic saline group(P0.05).The mortality was 40.71% in conventional liquid group and 38.65% in hypertonic saline group(P0.05).Conclusion The serum levels of IL-6 and IL-10 are involved in the pathological process of severe brain injury.The detection of IL-6 levels is of clinical importance for evaluating patients' prognosis.Furthermore the infusion of hypertonic saline is effective for resuscitation of severe head injury,which can reduce the levels of IL-6 and can relieve inflammatory response.