Assessment of the Correlations between Interleukin-6 and 10 Levels and Mortality in Patients with Sepsis

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between the serum levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-6/IL-10 ratio and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE-II), Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores and mortality in patients with sepsis. Materials and Methods: The sample of the study consisted of 50 patients (median age: 75 years) presented to the Intensive Care Unit of the Emergency Department between January 2019 and December 2019 with sepsis. Blood samples were taken from all patients on day 1 and day 3. The IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α levels, APACHE-II, SOFA, and GCS scores were recorded on a data collection form. Results: The deceased and the survived groups significantly differed in day-1 (p = 0.013) and day-3 IL-6 (p = 0.016) levels, day-1 IL-6/IL-10 ratio (p = 0.029) and gender. On the other hand, there was no significant difference between the groups in day-1 and day-3 IL-10 levels and day-3 IL-6/IL-10 ratio. The GCS score was significantly lower in the deceased group than in the survived group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: High IL-6 levels and high IL-6/IL-10 ratios on the day of diagnosis with sepsis were found to be correlated with mortality. IL-6 level may be particularly useful for predicting mortality if used in combination with scoring systems such as the GCS and different clinical parameters.