ArticleJournal of intensive care2025
Age-dependent differences in the association between blood interleukin-6 levels and mortality in patients with sepsis: a retrospective observational study.
Article in Journal of intensive care, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Evaluating the risk of elevated IL-6 levels in pediatric patients: a stratified approach and evidence of interaction effects.Translational pediatrics · 2026Article
- Sepsis-associated acute lung injury: do inflammatory lipid mediators flood the lungs by activating pulmonary TRP channels?Intensive care medicine experimental · 2026Review
- A Simple Admission-Based Score for Early Mortality Risk Stratification in Non-Shock Sepsis: A Pilot Study.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The diagnostic and prognostic value of sTM, t-PAIC, and NLRP3 in ICU patients with sepsis.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Pre-illness Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential is an Independent Predictor of Morbidity and Mortality in Sepsis.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Mechanisms and clinical research progress of IL-6-mediated crosstalk between the alveolar microenvironment and the immune system in patients with severe pneumonia undergoing mechanical ventilation.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Hemoadsorption in Children with Cytokine Storm Using the Jafron HA330 and HA380 Cartridges.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Endocrine issues in critically ill transgender patients: A narrative review.World journal of critical care medicine · 2025Review
- Multiplex Targeted Proteomic Analysis of Cytokine Ratios for ICU Mortality in Severe COVID-19.Proteomes · 2025Article
- Age-stratified Association Between Plasma Adiponectin Levels and Mortality in Septic Patients.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Combined General/Epidural Anesthesia vs. General Anesthesia on Postoperative Cytokines: A Review and Meta-Analysis.Cancers · 2025Review
- Evaluation of CRP SNV rs2808630 and acute proinflammatory biomarkers in patients with CKD and PLHIV with CKD: a case-control study.BMC nephrology · 2025Article
- Divergent mortality risks associated with lower body temperature and interleukin-6 levels in elderly and non-elderly patients with sepsis.Acute medicine & surgeryArticle
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundInterleukin-6 (IL-6) is a cytokine that predicts clinical outcomes in critically ill patients, including those with sepsis. Elderly patients have blunted and easily dysregulated host responses to infection, which may influence IL-6 kinetics and alter the association between IL-6 levels and clinical outcomes.
methodsThis retrospective observational study included patients aged ≥ 16 years who were admitted to the intensive care unit at Chiba University Hospital. The patients were categorized into two groups: non-elderly (< 70 years) and elderly (≥ 70 years). Associations between log-transformed blood IL-6 levels and 28-day in-hospital mortality (primary outcome) and multiple organ dysfunction (MOD) on days 3 and 7 (secondary outcomes) were examined.
resultsThe non-elderly and elderly groups included 272 and 247 patients, respectively. There were no significant differences in the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score, components of the APACHE II score (Acute physiology score and Chronic health points), MOD at baseline, or any of the outcome measures between the groups. In the non-elderly group, univariate Cox regression analysis showed a significant association between IL-6 levels and mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 1.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.25-2.37, P < 0.001). This association remained significant after adjusting for sex, body mass index, steroid use prior to sepsis onset, and number of chronic organ dysfunctions (HR 1.66, 95% CI 1.20-2.32, P = 0.002). However, no significant association was observed in the elderly group in either the univariate (P = 0.69) or multivariable analyses (P = 0.77). Multivariable logistic regression analysis of MOD on days 3 and 7 revealed significant associations between MOD and IL-6 levels in both groups.
conclusionsBlood IL-6 levels were significantly associated with mortality in non-elderly patients with sepsis, but not in elderly patients. IL-6 levels were associated with MOD in both groups. Therefore, IL-6 levels should be interpreted with caution when predicting mortality in elderly patients with sepsis.
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