ABSTRACT
The mortality rate is high among chronic renal failure [CRF] patients, and recent evidences suggest that this may be linked to chronic inflammation. IL-6, the main pro-inflammatory cytokine, promotes inflammatory events through, the activation of lymphocytes and the induction of acute phase protein response in the liver. In vitro and in vivo studies have suggested that markers of acute phase response such as serum CRP and serum albumin are both known as important predictors for the progression of CRF. The aim of this study is to investigate the IL-6 serum levels and its relation to acute phase reactants [CRP and albumin] in both dialyzed and non-dialyzed CRF patients in compare with normal healthy subjects. Our results show an enhanced production of IL-6 in the CRF non-dialyzed and dialyzed patients, as compared to controls. A strong impact of plasma IL-6 levels on the acute phase reactants were demonstrated by its significant statistical correlation with CRP and albumin. In conclusion an increase of IL-6 and CRP inversely related with creatinine clearance has been evidenced in our results. The possibility that IL-6 causes an activated acute phase response is claimed. A negative correlation between CRP and serum albumin was found confirming the link between chronic inflammation and malnutrition in CRF patients, this was confirmed the decreased cholesterol levels in CRF patients. These data provided evidence of the activation of mechanisms known to contribute to the increased morbidity and mortality in CRF patients