Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 May;55(5):696-706.
doi: 10.1111/hepr.14175. Epub 2025 Feb 12.

Serum pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 level is predictive of further decompensation and mortality in liver cirrhosis

Yuji Ikeda  1 , Hiroki Nago  1 , Masahiro Yamaguchi  1 , Rihwa Om  1 , Yuichiro Terai  1 , Yuji Kita  1 , Sho Sato  1 , Ayato Murata  1 , Shunsuke Sato  1 , Yuji Shimada  1 , Akihito Nagahara  2 , Takuya Genda  1
Affiliations

Serum pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 level is predictive of further decompensation and mortality in liver cirrhosis

Yuji Ikeda et al. Hepatol Res. 2025 May.

Abstract

Aim: Systemic inflammation drives the progression of portal hypertension in patients with liver cirrhosis. Interleukin-6 is a key mediator of the cytokine network in acute inflammation that stimulates the production of many acute phase reactants. In this study, we investigated the association between serum interleukin-6 and acute phase reactant levels and the disease stage and prognosis of patients with liver cirrhosis.

Methods: A single-center retrospective cohort of 359 patients with liver cirrhosis was staged according to the symptomatic decompensation. Baseline serum C-reactive protein , interleukin-6, procalcitonin, and serum amyloid A protein levels were measured. The outcomes of further decompensation, hepatocellular carcinoma development, and mortality were identified during a 3.3-year median follow-up period.

Results: Serum C-reactive protein , interleukin-6, and procalcitonin levels were significantly different across the stages. The multivariate Cox proportional hazards model identified serum interleukin-6 as an independent predictor of further decompensation in patients with compensated and the first single decompensated cirrhosis. Kaplan-Meier analyses showed that the probability of further decompensation was stratified by serum interleukin-6 level in a dose-dependent manner. In the entire cohort, serum interleukin-6 level also showed a significant association with liver-related and all-cause mortalities, but not with hepatocellular carcinoma development, independent of stage and liver disease severity indices.

Conclusions: Elevated levels of serum markers of systemic inflammation were associated with symptomatic decompensation, and serum interleukin-6 level is a predictor of further decompensation and mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Keywords: cytokine; decompensated cirrhosis; follow‐up study; inflammation; portal hypertension; survival.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Lozano R, Naghavi M, Foreman K, Lim S, Shibuya K, Aboyans V, et al. Global and regional mortality from 235 causes of death for 20 age groups in 1990 and 2010: a systemic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet. 2012;380(9859):2095–2128. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140‐6736(12)61728‐0
    1. Vollset SE, Ababneh HS, Abate YH, Abbafati C, Abbasgholizadeh R, Abbasian M, et al. Burden of disease scenarios for 204 countries and territories, 2022‐2050: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. Lancet. 2024;403(10440):2204–2256. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140‐6736(24)00685‐8
    1. Tanaka J, Koyama T, Mizui M, Uchida S, Katayama K, Matsuo J, et al. Total numbers of undiagnosed carriers of hepatitis C and B viruses in Japan estimated by age‐ and area‐specific prevalence on the national scale. Intervirology. 2011;54(4):185–195. https://doi.org/10.1159/000324525
    1. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Annual Health, labour and Welfare report 2021. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/wp/wp‐hw14/dl/01e.pdf. Accessed August 15, 2024.
    1. Adam R, Karam V, Cailliez V, Grady JGO, Mirza D, Cherqui D, et al. 2018 annual report of the European liver transplant registry (ELTR) ‐ 50‐year evolution of liver transplantation. Transpl Int. 2018;31(12):1293–1317. https://doi.org/10.1111/tri.13358

LinkOut - more resources