Levels of plasma cytokines and circulating endotoxin were assessed in 41 patients with severe intra-abdominal sepsis. Comparison was made with the Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II scoring system. Blood samples were taken within 24 h of onset of the sepsis syndrome and at serial times thereafter. Increased levels of interleukin (IL) 6 (range 50-25,500 pg/ml) were detectable in all patients with sepsis. Eighteen of the 19 deaths were attributable to sepsis and higher levels of IL-6 at the onset of the sepsis syndrome correlated with a poor outcome. The sensitivity of IL-6 concentration in predicting mortality was 86.4 per cent with a specificity of 78.9 per cent and an overall correct classification rate of 82.9 per cent. IL-6 level was a better predictor than APACHE II score (sensitivity 72.7 per cent, specificity 57.9 per cent, correct classification rate 65.9 per cent). Levels of tumour necrosis factor alpha, IL-1 beta and endotoxin did not correlate with mortality rate. Plasma IL-6 concentrations may help in planning future strategies to decrease the mortality rate associated with sepsis.
Perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (pANCAs) have previously been demonstrated in patients with various forms of vasculitis and more recently in those with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by an indirect immunofluorescence technique. Sera from 194 patients were tested for pANCAs: 101 with ulcerative colitis (43 with varying grades of disease severity, 19 after subtotal colectomy, 39 following restorative proctocolectomy), 40 with Crohn's disease, five with indeterminate colitis, 24 patients without IBD and 24 healthy volunteers (controls). The overall prevalence of pANCAs in patients with ulcerative colitis was 70.3 per cent (71 of 101). These antibodies were still present in 29 of 39 patients after restorative proctocolectomy, in whom the median follow-up after surgery was 2 years. All five patients who had pouchitis after restorative proctocolectomy were pANCA positive. By contrast, only ten of 40 patients with Crohn's disease had pANCAs, nine of whom had Crohn's colitis. No pANCAs were detected in controls. These results show that pANCAs are more prevalent in colonic IBD, especially ulcerative colitis. The persistence of pANCAs in the sera for 2 years after restorative proctocolectomy suggests that the antigens are not fully eradicated and, therefore, that it is not just the colon that is targeted immunologically in ulcerative colitis.
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