• Joerg C Schefold, Dietrich Hasper, Stephan von Haehling, Christian Meisel, Petra Reinke, and Hans-Georg Schlosser.
• Department of Nephrology and Intensive Care, Charité University Medicine, Campus Virchow Clinic, Berlin, Germany. schefold@charite.de
• Clin. Biochem. 2008 Jul 1;41(10-11):893-8.

ObjectivesInterleukin-6 (IL-6) is involved in inflammatory diseases, provides prognostical information, and allows the early identification and monitoring of septic patients. We investigated whether IL-6 can be assessed using a new densitometric point-of-care (POC) bedside assay.Design And Methods392 samples were prospectively collected from 57 intensive care unit patients (38 male, age: 45.2 +/- 16.9years, APACHE II score: 25.4 +/- 4.8). Blinded IL-6 measurements were performed using conventional semiautomatic enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and the POC test.ResultsMean IL-6 levels were 102.9 +/- 388.6pg/mL (ELISA) and 97.0 +/- 535.5 (POC). A significant correlation was found (p < 0.0001, r = 0.92). The sensitivity/specificity for sepsis was 82.6%/86.5% (ELISA, AUC: 0.881), and 76.4%/95.0% (POC, AUC: 0.868).ConclusionsHere we demonstrate significant correlations of IL-6 levels determined using a POC test and semiautomatic ELISA. ROC analyses revealed no significant differences between the two tests. With a turn-around time of 20min, the bedside IL-6 test is a new tool that may help to initiate early goal-directed therapy.

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