Résumé
OBJECTIVE: To comprehensively analyze the relationship between interleukin-6 (IL-6) and ischemic cerebrovascular disease. DATA SOURCES: A computer-based search was conducted in Pubmed for literatures related to the expression, effect, and significance of IL-6 in ischemic cerebrovascular disease pblished between January 1994 and March 2006 with the of "interleukin-6, Ischemia Cerebrovascular Disease; Interleukin-6, Ichemia Stroke", and the language was limited to English. STUDY SELECTION: Retrieved data were arranged, and articles with strong aim were selected. Literatures published recently and those published in authorized journals of the same region were superior. DATA EXTRACTION: A total of 122 relevant articles were retrieved, and 23 of them were in accordance with the inclusion criteria. DATA SYNTHESIS: IL-6 is a pleiotropic cytokine with both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory effects. It highly expresses in the cerebral tissue, cerebrospinal fluid and peripheral blood serum after cerebral ischemia. IL-6 plays an important role in the pathophysicoloy and inflammatory response to the ischemia cerebrovascular disease of acute stage. CONCLUSION: IL-6 plays an important role in the pathophysicological mechanism and prognosis of ischemic cerebrovascular disease, which can be taken as a prediction index for evaluating the focus of infection and neurofutional defects.