The diagnostic value of serum Interleukins 6 and 8 in children with acute gastroenteritis

Objectives: Early identification of the pathogen causing acute gastroenteritis in children helps the physicians managing the disease and prevents unnecessary antibiotic treatment. C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL) 6 and IL-8 play a major role in immune responses and have been studied in a large number of infectious and noninfectious inflammatory diseases. The purpose of this study was to determine the serum IL-6 and IL-8 concentrations early in the course of acute gastroenteritis to see if these cytokines were useful diagnostic markers in differentiating viral from bacterial gastroenteritis. Methods: Interleukin 6, IL-8 and CRP were measured in 18 patients with bacterial gastroenteritis, 21 patients with viral gastroenteritis and 17 healthy children. Results: Interleukin 6 and CRP concentrations in patients with bacterial gastroenteritis were significantly higher than those in patients with viral gastroenteritis and healthy controls (P < 0.001). IL-8 concentrations in patients with viral and bacterial gastroenteritis were both increased and were not statistically different. IL-6 and IL-8 levels had diagnostic sensitivities of 79% and 50% and specificities of 86% and 67%, respectively. The combination of IL-6 and CRP had a sensitivity of 94%, specificity of 71%, a positive predictive value of 74% and a negative predictive value of 93.75%. Conclusions: Serum IL-6 may be a useful marker for early differentiation of viral and bacterial gastroenteritis in children, especially in combination with CRP.