The correlation of serum interleukin-6, interleukin-10 and tumor necrosis factor-α concentrations and the prognosis of sepsis in children

Objective To investigate the correlation of serum concentrations of interleukin(IL)-6,IL-10 and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α and the prognosis of sepsis in children.Methods Fifty-seven septic patients in PICU were enrolled in the study,of whom 44 patients survived(sepsis survival group),13 patients died(sepsis dead group).Another 65 cases of non-sepsis patients served as control(non-sepsis group).The critical illness score,the number of damaged organs,and serum levels of IL-6,IL-10,TNF-α,IL-6/IL-10,TNF-α/IL-10 in each group were compared.Results The critical illness score was decreased and the number of damaged organs was more in sepsis dead group than those in non-sepsis group and sepsis survival group.Compared with non-sepsis group and sepsis survival group,the expression of IL-6 and IL-10 increased,TFN-α/IL-10 ratio significantly decreased in sepsis dead group(P ＜ 0.05),but the difference between the sepsis survival group and non-sepsis group was not statistically significant(P ＞ 0.05).The serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6/IL-10 ratio showed no significant difference among three groups(P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion In sepsis patients,the serum concentrations of IL-6,IL-10 are higher and the TNF-α/IL-10 ratio is smaller,the prognosis is worse. Key words: Cytokines;  Inflammatory Mediators;  Anti-inflammatory Media;  Interleukin-6;  Interleukin-10;  tumor necrosis factor-α;  Sepsis;  Children