Diagnostic and Prognostic Roles of Serum Interleukin-6 Levels in Patients with Uveitis

Purpose To examine the diagnostic and prognostic roles of serum interleukin-6 levels in patients with uveitis. Methods This was a retrospective observational case series. Demographic and clinical characteristics were compared between Group One (sixty patients) with normal serum IL-6 levels and Group Two (twenty patients) with high serum interleukin-6 levels. Results Mean IL-6 level was 1.77 +/- 0.97 pg/ml and 10.2 +/- 9.7 pg/ml in Group One and Group Two respectively. Age, presence of systemic disease, and mean number of flare-ups were statistically significant (p= .015,p= .000,p= .03, respectively). Multivariate analysis was performed on variables that were statistically significant in univariate analysis and showed that three variables had significant correlation with IL-6 levels in both groups: systemic disease (OR = 10.83,p< .001), Age (OR = 0.95,p= .03) and number of flare-ups (OR = 2.9,p= .02). Conclusion Serum IL-6 levels can provide diagnostic and prognostic information in regard to the course of disease and its treatment.