Detection of serum interleukin-6 concentrations in silicosis patients

Objective To study the changes of serum interleukin-6(IL-6) in silicosis patients,to explore the role of IL-6 on the development of silicosis,and to evaluate the significance of detection of IL-6 in silicosis.Methods Serum IL-6 levels were determined with ELISA method in 100 healthy controls,200 more-than-1-year silica dust workers,32 suspected silicosis patients(originally diagnosed as 0+) and 130 silicosis patients.Results Serum levels of IL-6 in silicosis group were significantly higher than those in the exposed groups and control group.And the IL-6 concentrations in exposed group were significantly increased than those in control group.In different stages of silicosis patients,serum IL-6 levels in group of suspected silicosis patients were significantly higher than those in stage one,two and three.Serum IL-6 concentrations of silicosis patients in one,two,three stages were increased with the silicosis stage,but there were no significant differences among the three groups.In silicosis patients there were 94.6% of the cases whose IL-6 levels were higher than 11 ng/L,while there were 90.5% of the cases whose IL-6 levels were lower than 11 ng/L in the exposed group.Conclusion It was suggested that there were significant relationship between serum IL-6 levels and the incidence of silicosis,IL-6 can be used as one of the biomarkers for early diagnosis of silicosis.