Serum interleukin-6 levels are elevated in women with minimal-mild endometriosis.

BACKGROUND: There is a need for a reliable marker of endometriosis, especially in early stages of peritoneal disease during which imaging is not effective. The use of serum interleukin (IL)-6 as a marker is controversial. To readdress the matter, patients undergoing laparoscopy were prospectively evaluated for serum IL-6 levels. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 119 women 31 years old who underwent laparoscopy were divided into groups: control patients (n = 38) with no pathologic findings; endometriosis sufferers (n = 47) with minimal-mild (MM, n = 11) or moderate-severe (MS, n = 36) endometriosis; uterine myomas (n = 13) and benign ovarian pathologies (n = 21). Blood was drawn on cycles days 5-12 and stored for subsequent analysis of IL-6 and carbohydrate antigen (CA)-125 levels. RESULTS: Serum IL-6 levels were significantly (P = 0.002) higher in women with MM endometriosis (29.4 9.0 pg/ml) than in controls (15.7 9.3 pg/ml). When all the non-endometriosis patients were grouped together (n = 72) and serum IL-6 (17.8 12.1 pg/ml) compared with MS (n = 36; 17.6 10.3 pg/ml) and MM (n = 11; 29.4 9.0 pg/ml) endometriosis significantly (P < 0.01) higher levels in MM endometriosis were observed as compared to the other two groups. Serum Ca-125 levels were significantly (P < 0.01) elevated in MS endometriosis. A serum IL-6 threshold of 25.75 pg/ml afforded a sensitivity of 75% and specificity of 83% in the diagnosis of MM endometriosis. Sensitivity and specificity for CA-125 in the diagnosis of MS endometriosis, using 35 IU/ml as the cut-off value, were 47% and 97%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: IL-6 is a reliable non-invasive marker of MM endometriosis, whereas Ca-125 is of use as a marker of severe cases.

[Astrovirus infection in children with gastroenteritis]. / Infección por astrovirus en niños con gastroenteritis.

OBJECTIVE: We report here a 2 year study (1997-1998) of astrovirus infection in children admitted to our hospital. The epidmioligical and clinical features of the infection were also investigated. METHOD: A total of 1.815 stool specimens were tested during a two-year period (january 1997- december 1998). They were collected from children less than 3 years of age admitted to La Paz Hospital (Madrid) with acute gastroenteritis. We used a monoclonal antibody-based enzyme inmunoassay (IDEIA Astrovirus, DAKO) to detect astrovirus antigen in faecal samples. RESULTS: Astroviruses were detected in 79 of the 1.815 analysed samples. This represented an incidence of 4,3%. The main symptom of infection was watery diarrhoea, and it was often associated with vomiting and fever. The majority of astrovirus infection occurred between the coldest months of the year. Children under a year of age were the most susceptible population. There was a considerable number of patients (62%) who develop the infection after 72 hours of admission. CONCLUSION: The rate of detection reported here illustrates the importance of this pathogen in childhood diarrhoea, so we recommend its screening on a routine basis.