• Li-ming He, Bing-hui Qiu, Song-tao Qi, Lu-xiong Fang, and Xiao-jun Liu.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China. hlm791011@tom.com
• Nan Fang Yi Ke Da Xue Xue Bao. 2009 May 1; 29 (5): 999-1001.

ObjectiveTo explore the dynamic changes of serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-8 in acute traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their correlations to the severity of brain injury and the condition of the patients.MethodsThirty-four patients with acute TBI were divided into two groups according to the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, clinical manifestations and the imaging data, namely patients with GCS score < or = 8 and those with GCS score between 9 and 12. Radioimmunoassay was employed to determine the serum levels of IL-6 and IL-8 at 6 different time points within 15 days after the injury in the two groups.ResultsThe serum IL-6 reached the peak level on the second day after the injury in patients with GCS score < or = 8 and on the 7th day in patients with GCS score of 9-12, showing significant differences in IL-6 variations between the two groups (P=0.046). The peak serum level of IL-8 occurred on the 7th day in patients with GCS score < or = 8 and on the 3rd day in patients with GCS score of 9-12, also showing significant differences (P=0.045). The peak level of IL-6 on the second day after the injury was significantly higher than the peak level of IL-8 that occurred on the 7th day, demonstrating significant differences in the variations of IL-6 and IL-8 after the injury (P=0.000).ConclusionThe changes of serum IL-6 and IL-8 levels show positive correlations to the severity of the condition of the patients sustaining TBI. IL-6 variation is more obvious than that of IL-8 without intimate correlations between them. Clinically, serum IL-6 level can be more informative than serum IL-8 level in evaluating the changes of the condition of the TBI patients in early stage following the injury.

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