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Significance of interleukin-6 in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

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Summary

The significance of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) was studied by measuring the IL-6 level in serum and colonic tissue by means of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and by examining its localization using an immunohistochemical method. The serum IL-6 level reflected the degree of disease activity, and the extent of affected area, and was also correlated with the serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level. In the colonic mucosa of active IBD, the tissue IL-6 level was markedly elevated, and immunoreactive products of anti-IL-6 antibody were present in infiltrative mononuclear cells in the lamina propria. This indicates that IL-6 production in these cells is enhanced at the site of affected intestine. These results, together with its biological activity and the type of cell producing it, suggest that IL-6 is an available marker to assess disease conditions of IBD and that it might be also involved in the pathophysiology of IBD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Second Department of Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, 67 Asahimachi, 830, Kurume, Japan

    Keiichi Mitsuyama M.D., Michio Sata & Kyuichi Tanikawa

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  1. Keiichi Mitsuyama M.D.
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  2. Michio Sata
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  3. Kyuichi Tanikawa
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Mitsuyama, K., Sata, M. & Tanikawa, K. Significance of interleukin-6 in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Gastroenterol Jpn 26, 20–28 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02779504

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02779504

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