Endotoxin and cytokines in patients with gastrointestinal tract perforation

Abstract

Plasma levels of endotoxin and various cytokines were assessed in 70 patients with gastrointestinal tract perforation. Sepsis developed in 29 of them, and eight of these (27.6%) had on admission endotoxin levels higher than 9.8 pg ml-1. The clinical outcome correlated with the level of tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα), rather than with the endotoxin level. The high interleukin 6 (IL-6) level was shown in septic patients and no correlation was observed between the IL-6 level and the clinical outcome. Plasma TNFα levels tended to change independently from endotoxin levels, suggesting that TNFα may have been locally produced in inflammatory lesions.