RELATIONSHIP OF SERUM IL-8,IL-6 LEVELS TO INFECTION IN PATIENTS WITH ACUTE MYELOGENOUS LEUKEMIA DURING NEUTROPENIA FOLLOWING CHEMOTHERAPY

Objective:To explore the relationship between serum IL-8,IL-6 levels and infection in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) during neutropenia following intensive chemotherapy.Methods:The serum level of IL-8,IL-6 in 42 AML patients and 20 normal controls were measured by sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results:The serum levels of IL-8 and IL-6 were elevated consistently in early stage of fever and correlated well with each other (r=0.841,P0.001) and with body temperautre (r=0.447 and 0.570,P0.005 and P0.001),but were unrelated to leucocyte counts (r=-0.120 and -0.047,P0.05,respectively).The serum levels of IL-8,IL-6 in patients of positive group of etiology examination were significantly higher than that in patients of the groups with fever of unknown origin (FUO) (P0.002,respectively) and only infectious symptom or sign (P0.05,respectively),and the levels of IL-8,IL-6 levels were increased significantly in patients of the group with only infectious symptom or sign than that with FUO (P0.02,respectively).IL-8,IL-6 levels were higher in patients with infection due to gram-negative organisms than in those with infection due to gram-positive organisms (P0.01,respectively).The serum levels of IL-8,IL-6 remained higher before death in patients who died of sepsis.Conclusion:United determinations of serum levels of IL-8,IL-6 may be helpful for early prediction as to the occurrence and severity of infection in AML patients during neutropenia following chemotherapy.